Turn it Upside Down
by Mermaid's Lagoon
Summary: Ginny starts a nightclub at Hogwarts in the rooms under Fluffy's trapdoor to bring the students together. H/D but it doesn't pick up till chapter 7 after that I promise tons and tons of HD. Also GWBZ and abnormally powerful HarryDraco!
1. Prologueishness

**Turn it Upside Down**

[[Yes the Title will become apparent in time. I'm thinking in the Third or fourth chapter, as soon as Luna, Ginny, or Deirdre come up with the idea of Draco and Harry as a couple. Anyway, you'll see, I promise.

_Disclaimer_: Harry Potter isn't mine, but if her were I'd want him gift-wrapped and as part of a package set complete with a shirtless Draco.

A/N: Ginny Weasley is sort of the main character of this story. But not really (I may change perspectives a lot later- putting in more HandD). While she is certainly a girl of some importance, for reasons which shall be delved deeper into at a later date in time, she is not the focal point of the thing you are about the read! However if you don't like her as a character, you may want to ditch this story now, cause I personally think she has the potential to rock! (she's not canon—I took her younger self and aged her the way I wanted taking a LOT of liberties. Watch out cause the first few chapters will be entirely Ginny until she gets her little business rolling)

A list of the seven unidentified people I'm about to introduce:

Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, Deirdre Boleyn (a gryffindor classmate of Ginny's who i needed for the story), and four slytherins: Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, and two slytherins in Ginny's year, Macha Emain and Thomas Nott (younger brother of Theodore). [They are the crucial seven who needed to come together, although not all of them will have a huge impact on the other. For example, Thomas Nott and Deirdre Boleyn may have almost nothing to do with Harry Potter, but mean a lot to Ginny and Macha.

**Prologue**: The Seven and the Formal Introduction of Ginevra Weasley

One single night, and the lines of fate can come together, just for a second. All it takes is a few minutes, one realization echoed among different people, fated to fall together later, when destiny calls them back to one another.

The Chosen One, drunk for the first time, lost among muggle strangers and guided by a red-haired goddess rambles as he relives in detail a torturous massacre, on the edges of civilization where only he can hear their screams. It was just a few, five or six families, but the destruction of bodies and minds is absolute, whether quick or slow. He feels the anger and the storm in the sky reacts, blossoming and raging over all of London. In an alleyway lightning strikes his body fifteen times, to no effect, both drawn to and made harmless by his magic. It's fed by the agony and love he feels for those tortured, a love of life he holds closest during the waking visions in vain attempt to balance out the evil of the Dark Lord. He may not remember the details the next day, or remember speaking a word, but the realization has had an impact, unlocked a door in his mind, the door to his magic breached by emotion and a loosened mind.

The Second, a girl on whom nothing hung, not the world, and not any person's life, who finds herself unable to tune out the boy she supports. Images supplied by her mind flash endlessly in time to his words as she pulls him into an alley. For the first time her own magic lashes out, naïve pain and a sense of losing her innocent blind eye, without a way to turn away from the violence of the outside world, sparked by the power released from her friend. It reacts in kind and shoves her off of him as the lightning rages and thunder roars in her ears. Her purpose in life has always been the same, and now it has expanded. Not only will she find love, but she will gather those closest to her and in one stroke strengthen her chances to survive and support this boy, save the world. Ideas swirl in her mind, plans to be put into actions… she has advantages, her help is inevitable and invaluable. She is bold.

For the Third, growing power and one lengthy glimpse of his ugly future launch him into maturity, leading to an entire secret summer of self-examination and severe doubts which blossom into a new determination. In this new persona, he knows not who he is, but discovery lends fun to the new dangers lurking in his wary mind. Never again will he hold a girl down as, house by house, hut by hut, one, two, three, then a fourth, the final killing curse embeds itself into her jugular. Never again will he have to watch until that final curse is more of a blessing.

A group of three, escaping a useless function, stumble across a pile of used and abused bodies, left in an empty yard before a simple hut, deep in the woods. One wizard was careless, and a young boy was left bleeding out, no finishing blow cast after the torture and the stomach wounds. The Fourth burns the bodies of his family, giving them proper burials. The Fifth and Sixth entertain him as he fades after he cries out his story to them. It is short, but they know what visited these people. The girl dances for him as a boy holds the hands of the dying child. The Fourth, uniquely connected to death by a curse that haunts his mother and her lovers, prays with the young boy before he passes. The boy's eyes close and the three pairs of cunning eyes meet, their loyalties swung out of neutral. What will it take to make us act, if not intimate contact with a potential wizard, a boy whose magic was barely strong enough to be felt by all three as it flickered and died, no longer able to keep his heart beating.

There were others, but the last of the seven crucial changes was in a young woman, distantly related to a British muggle queen. She sits at the bedside of an elderly aunt, a strong woman even diseased and close to passing on. For a week she has grown more and more fascinated with the discussions they have, ranging from current events to sociology, charms, transfiguration techniques and personal tales. On the final night they discuss politics, and between them they compare the current events in her world to what has occurred in history, muggle and wizard alike. The girl feels the sting of naivety, the lack of understanding, even in the presence of knowledge. She gains enough understanding by the end to have a real opinion, the kind which won't yield, even when she attends parties full of pureblooded adults who keep their masks and robes in their upstairs closets. In the afterglow of this realization she voices her intent to a relative whose eyes are closing. One last smile, and then her great-aunt is gone, as though she slipped away only for the evening. But the Seventh's determination lingers, curiosity aroused and her ire sparked. She is not satisfied with the state of the world, and sometimes that is all it takes.

There were others close to them. There was a brilliant, starry-eyed girl whose hair hung in blond sheets. But she follows her own path through life, at once blind but absolutely certain of her course of action, her fate almost completely disconnected from the tangles of the present. Luna's certainty was always there, it does not hang on one instant, needs no change of heart or mind. There was a pair, two friends whose lives have intertwined so thoroughly with the Chosen One that he is lost without them. It is largely thanks to the efforts of his two friends that he was able to reach this point in his destiny. And there were mentors, friends, strangers, all waiting to be connected or untangled from the strings binding the seven together. But at the center of Fate's tangled web, circling and shrinking round the Dark Lord, caging him inside their Hexagon, over which Harry Potter resides, is the crucial six, the seventh's role already made clear.

But this story begins some time after that one instant in time when each of their minds were in exact agreement, and miles and miles apart. It does focus on the Second, because she is responsible for connecting the Hexagon into which Fate hopes to tempt the Dark Lord. It is only through the combined will and efforts of these seven people that everything in the world may conspire to create the extremely improbable likelihood that Voldemort can and will be defeated by Harry Potter.

For now, our focal point is this girl, Ginny Weasley. We will stick with her, as through her life we experience not only Harry Potter's, but the life of his lover, and four people he really doesn't know at all.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ginny Weasley is a girl has trained herself to watch someone. Thanks to years of drowning in angst-ridden feelings over the Boy Who Lived, she is the ideal person to find if you need any knowledge on his life. When a girl has a crush, her mind turns into a massive compendium of years worth of useless knowledge about the object of their dreams and sighs. And so Ginny is the ideal person to tell any story about Harry Potter, and in the future should probably write his biography. This is particularly true because Harry Potter is, in fact, her first True Love. Her Wesley, or Farm-boy, her Romeo, her Johnny Depp, Don Juan de Marco, her Edward Scissorhands. And even when she didn't love him anymore, he is not someone who you lose fondness for. If possible, she liked him even more once she stopped wanting to marry him.

Harry is the person she automatically notices when she enters a room, the one her eyes tick towards if she allows them to stray. Or second, maybe, if we leave consideration for her current social status. Some of you out there may have realized this already- once you've experienced one of those crushes to end all crushes, there is no turning back. You notice that person each time they approach you in a hallway, or you turn into a room and think, "Ok there's that person I like/used to like, and yes I'm in the right room, this is the right class, I sit here and there are my friends who I think I'll go talk to". Poor Ginny really struggles finding a guy that can displace a fine specimen such as Harry Potter from her thoughts. Even if she isn't considering him as potential future husband material, she worries about his future, his connections to Voldemort, how hard he pushes himself, and how she can pay him back eventually for saving her life.

Ahem… On to Ginny Weasley. First, an explanation. The person I'm referring to is NOT the little Ginny most people remember.

Yes, she's a family kind of gal, knows how to handle boys while still being girly, has red hair, is special because she's the only young lady in a seven-child household, and the baby of the family at that. But really, Ginny is spectacular. She is, in a word, fierce. She burns, continuously, like a really magnificent forest fire. And like forest fires, she isn't just annoying, she screws everyone over, and her destructive capabilities are magnificent. Ginny's also beautiful if she don't scare the shit out of you, and only a small percentage of the human population can face her up close without pissing their pants.

Once Ginny grew up, she did it fast, earlier than normal (a byproduct of growing up with the Boy-Who-Lived at your school during a time when war was imminent), and displayed a vast amount of intelligence seldom applied to the right causes (in the opinions of her teachers and parents). Ginny herself felt that her particular talents were best put to use securing the kind of life she wanted for herself and the people closest to her and screw you if you weren't on her Nice list.

But really, she's not all that bad. Just a normal witch, really, with probably about twice the power, the ability to knock a guy out (_without_ kneeing them in the groin), and the useful skill of being perpetually paranoid.

Because, although she isn't a complete angsty gothic mess over the fact that she conversed with Tom Riddle for a year (less, really), it did give her an understanding of something. Constant paranoia to a certain extent is both logical and useful. Place ultimate trust in people who give as equally as you or more, settle for no less, etc. Make or get your own drinks when out on the town with muggle university students. It's a sensible mantra in any situation, screw vigilance, go for broke and hit slightly paranoid.

She's the kind of girl who does Charms because it's fun, floats through Transfiguration and Arithmancy with an average grade, and does the minimal amount of work well in Potions. She really doesn't give a rip about anything but DADA and Ancient Runes, basically.

Now on to personal history. Ginny, being a girl and therefore not quite as quick to punch as her brothers, learned three important lessons growing up: Obviously, she learned how to brawl with them, to hit as hard as she could faster than the other person, or be at a disadvantage, because 6-year old Ron, and juvenile Fred and George never decided to throw a punch and not hit as hard as they could. She learned to manipulate each brother, how to learn what they had, what she needed, and how she could get it without giving anything up (crying, making up tales, begging Charlie to get her chocolate because Bill wouldn't and Charlie was just SO much nicer insert pouting and pleading expressions when necessary, etc). Thirdly, due to her shyer tendencies around the tender ages of nine, ten, eleven, and some of twelve, she learned that keeping note of all her brother's mistakes in her head was quite sensible, so as not to repeat any of them.

Obviously the drawback to this is that Ginny avoided making many mistakes when she was younger (large ones, like Fred and George's mistake of bragging about their first prank of Percy, consequences being her mum always knew who to blame). It took the diary incident for her to realize that learning from her own mistakes was important too.

Ginny believes in seizing the moment, moving past errors once you've committed to setting them right. In light of this, when Ginny first found herself not absentmindedly going over Harry's schedule in her mind and replanning her day around when she could pass him or greet him, she endeavored to move on. Really, Harry Potter was quite an acceptable first crush, although she certainly had embarrassed herself that one time on Valentine's Day, but it was time for her to move on. Especially since Michael Corner had penned an entire Shakespearean sonnet onto his arm to recite to her in an abandoned classroom.

And well, as Ronald would say, things simply went downhill from that point on. Her poor brother was distraught when she dated Dean and then Seamus, one after the other, ending with a slight scandal by matchmaking the two on Halloween with a little game of Truth or Dare in the Room of Requirement. They were the first couple to officially come out together in Ron, Harry, and Hermione's class. They had a very mellow relationship, and were staunch supporters of Ginny when her lifestyle got to be too much for her brother.

After those boys she moved on to the rest of the Ravenclaws, declaring herself too used to living with six male Gryffindors to really appreciate her own house. Along her way through her own class's Ravenclaws she paused for a brief dalliance with a Hufflepuff, sick of the typical Ravenclaw lack of commitment. Really, is more than a month without experimentation with someone else too much for a girl to ask for? They could have at least invited her along. Gryffindors were known for their daring, dammit, even if Ron would've wanted to feather and tar the lot (thank god he really never heard anything much about it, thanks to the desperate efforts of Hermione, Seamus, and Dean). Anyway, to be fair to Ginny, some of these were random hook-ups, and not dating. In actuality, she'd dated 5 guys (counting the Hufflepuff and excluding Colin Creevey whose three days of glory were more a mistake than anything).

And thus, after a brief attempt to go the distance with Terry Boot (which lasted a whole month and a half), she was left only with the Slytherins. If you were to poll her friends, no one really knows if that was at the root of her plans to begin a nightclub at Hogwarts. Plans that existed even before she had that Fateful experience with Harry Potter, booze, and lightning.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where the real story begins.

Now, those forgotten rooms underneath the trapdoor in Fluffy's rooms were a set even the twins didn't know about, and Ginny was the perfect girl to exploit them (having been shown them by Neville after the Yule Ball in a valiant effort to be an interesting date). Using an elite unit comprised of Luna and several house-elves, Ginny had cleaned them all out, provided sparse bits of furniture depending on the use for the room, and opened them for business. She even put the crazy picture with the demented knight up as a guardian after discovering that he operated better when the password had a particular theme. Or something like a mild amount of acting rather than a simple password. For example, a simple line of Shakespeare and the man would swing right open, no problem, regardless. And he had a grudge against the faculty, so Ginny was pretty sure he'd not open for them, in any circumstance.

Let it never be said that the Twins were the only ones with a good head for business.

Ginny knew that becoming friends with the Slytherins wasn't really done in her house. But spending so much time with Ravenclaws had really opened her up to the concept (after all the girl pretty much had spent all of her fifth year with either a Ravenclaw boyfriend or Luna) where it wasn't taboo or evil.

Slytherin was known for their parties, in good and bad ways. Slytherin parties were infamous for always having the wizarding version of drugs and alcohol. And since Fred and George's deptarture from school, the Gryffindor parties had been severely lacking in Firewhiskey. The Slytherins were the only ones with practice at throwing parties anymore (excluding wild Quidditch celebrations) because they could afford all of the stuff required for a really crazy time. Plus the Slytherins lived in the fucking dungeons, all bottled-up and soundproofed with an insomniac professor that was always collecting odd potions ingredients or experimenting throughout the night, not really giving a shit what they got up to as long as it didn't get out to any other official.

Basically, they were the only people qualified to be VIPs of any Hogwarts nightclub Ginny could hope to found. Not all of them of course, but a select delicious few. And ever since that night with Harry she'd been revising the plan to suit the ones she wanted on his side in the upcoming years. They were the ones Ginny wanted to please. Hopefully as her VIPs, they would fall back on sophistication and manners, giving her polite appreciation for the graciousness she showed them, learning that she was the hostess of the club, not a manager, much in the style of a French whorehouse from the 1700s but without the prostitution. Basically, a wit of repute who they could deign to speak to and become friendly with. And from that position, Ginny was sure she could date her way into the inner circle.

Or, at least, that was her plan as of the day she arrived back at Hogwarts, although it was subject to change at any moment. As she lived through the summer and matured, so did her thoughts on how best to approach Slytherins and befriend them. And as the school year started, the events which occurred within the first few days managed to keep her constantly on her toes as she adapted her strategies hourly. But we are getting ahead of ourselves…

The plan was going to do very nicely for her purposes. Ginny Weasley, self-styled intellectual, mild muggle literature enthusiast, entrepreneur, logical and calculating, with commitment issues that she'd never admit to (you didn't seriously think that it was the boys that had ruined all of the relationships?). She was the only girl for the job. She had friends in each house (mildly civil acquaintances in Slytherin, at best) and she was fucking bored of going to party after party where the only entertainment was the Weird Sisters, boys, and Truth or Dare. To quote some of her last-season motives, the passé ones.

But even the best laid plans couldn't have given her the vaguest idea of what she was really getting into. Over the course of this story, she will, as her own life unfolds, realize that the fate of her own life (being a staunch follower of Harry's side in the war, regardless of Dumbledore's actions) rests in the hands of Harry Potter, who desperately need someone to balance him out. And that final thought is how Ginny's entire plan ended up accomplishing something even greater than pulling the entirety of Hogwarts, including the bigoted Slytherin house, together into one unit. It found Harry Potter's soul mate, and made sure everyone else knew it, too.


	2. The Latest First Impressions

_**Chapter Two of Turn it Upside Down**_

**Disclaimer**: not mine, or there would be more sex.

Ginny Weasley sighed as she read through it. The beginning was impossibly wordy. This was the most ridiculous project she'd ever started (and she was always devoting all of her energy to one thing or another). Even this first little snippet had taken herself, Luna, and Dennis forever. And there was also the matter of the title… which sucked.

"How he Found his Passion: A sequel, number two in the Harry Potter Chronicles… Oh hell, no. Obviously a book is not the way to go. There are too many factors. Maybe if I had time to recreate muggle movies in magical form… but that's taking this a bit too far." She threw her quill down in mild annoyance.

"I suppose it'll be the pensieve after all… I mean it's cute for an introduction, but at this rate… ugh." She mumbled to herself. Writing was amusing, but only short-term. It was time consuming, and too drawn out for her. She reached for the pensieve to continue recording a story she would, someday, find a way to mass produce and sell to the public.

She traced a finger around the bowl, admiring the contrast between the ephemeral and immortal look of the substance inside the bowl with her very human hands, blessed and cursed with the ability to age, as some thoughts and memories never did.

"Something wrong?" Came a voice from the doorway. She didn't even glance up.

"Ah, you know, just being ponderous. If you want a normal conversation you may have to wait a bit, it seems my inner genius had taken temporary possession of my brain. Actually, I'm about to dump our favorite pair's brilliant, overly dramatic, and hilarious tale into this lovely little bowl."

"So you still haven't managed to find a way to make millions off of it? I suppose a book would be too mundane for this…" The voice trailed off. "Anyway, I'm off. Find me later when you're done."

"Whatever, I'm busy" Ginny responded impatiently, closing her eyes and lifting her wand, her mind already drifting back, back, trying to find the very beginning of her tale. "But not too far back," she mumbled, "don't want this to be too long".

A sigh from the doorway and then an abrupt and amused, "Bye, then. Bitch." She could hear the smile in the last word, followed by footsteps on stone.

Despite being halfway into a meditative state, Ginny snorted lightly and called out "Bye bye baby" in a mocking tone.

A white mist began to wind itself, slowly, in finer and finer silken thread, around the tip of her wand. It was time to begin.

………………………….

Ginny Weasley entered the halls of Hogwarts on her sixth year ready to take the place by storm. Despite Luna's rather romantic hopes for a seductive Slytherin sex-god to slink into their compartment and shower one of them with attention and flattery, whilst simultaneously being ignorant of both their names, the train ride was nothing interesting. A short visit to the Prefect's compartment, a short visit to her brother's compartment, and a lot of sleeping in awkward-looking positions in the uncomfortable compartment she and Luna shared with Emer Culann (Seamus Finnegan's cousin, a Ravenclaw) and Deirdre Boleyn (Gryffindor, Ginny's year).

The only interesting thing had been Deirdre, who normally was hanging out with Susie Moon and Ruth McEwan, the other female Gryffindors in Ginny's year. But Ginny hadn't even bothered to get the story out of her. It was common knowledge among the fifth and sixth grades and among the seventh grade Ravenclaw and Hufflepuffs that Ginny and Luna's 'space', whether they were sitting at a table in the library or in a compartment on the train, was a friendly area to drift in and out of. Between them, the two girls knew just about everyone in the three grades. It was even a neutral zone for Slytherins because, in the end, Ginny didn't give a shit about anyone as long as they didn't piss her off, and Luna was helplessly kind and oblivious to everything that breathed, as well as a lot of things that didn't. So, even being seen with a random fifth or sixth-year Slytherin wouldn't be scandalous, despite Ginny's last name.

'Although, I don't think we've ever had a slytherin just pop by… not yet anyway.'

But for now it was just her and Luna walking together towards the Great Hall for the Sorting.

"So Luna," Ginny turned to address her odd friend in a soft voice, who was looking down at the floor as she stepped lightly on her toes across the large stones of Hogwarts, "You understand the plan? Now that I've got the rooms the way I'd like them, I think its really time to bring this baby home! Really, I mean Harry and Ron and Hermione have their own job handling all the personal Tom-shit, right? It works out perfectly for me. I can try my best to watch out for the next generation of wizards. If I have my way, things are going to get a lot easier for my side of this war after the next three years graduate. Or at least I can do light reconnaissance and discover where everyone stands at this point. It's easier to catch people's beliefs when they're young, before they've learned it's safer to hide it. I'd say it's mostly just Slytherins who are the exception sometimes. There's just not any one person or document that can tell us the loyalty of all the students… and I think it would be so easy to make one! Don't you?" She trailed off.

Luna glanced up from the floor, but continued to deftly avoid stepping on the cracks in the floor. She halted her murmered mantra of "step on a crack and you'll break your daddy's back" long enough to respond, "Well, yes that is another rather good reason to do this, better than your previous pursuit of just making money. I do think that the Draco crowd will be problematic. They all sort of fall in line behind him or keep themselves unseen, don't you think? The only good thing about them is that the younger grades leave the animosity largely up to their current Seventh Years. Even last year, the grade above your brother's left matters like that largely up to Draco and his direct cronies." She paused thoughtfully, "None of the other grades are passionate about it like that grade is. They just follow the unwritten law of staying unfriendly, disregarding things such as school projects in which cooperation is required. I suppose that from one angle this is a remarkably easy task, and from another it is inspiringly difficult. That list thing is a good idea, but maybe more difficult than you think. Maybe we can just expand it as we hear things?" Luna stopped walking entirely to look carefully at Ginny, who grinned and gave a little spin for her friend, as if she were trying on a new outfit. "Yes this one's worthy of your effort. You should try impossible feats more often, I quite like this look on you. And because I know you want a little advice I'll say this and nothing more."

Ginny looked at her expectantly as they continued on their way. Luna looked at her gravely, in hilarious contrast with her prancing hop-walk from stone to stone and said, "Go at them in this order: Blaise Zabini, then Daphne Greengrass and Theodore… no, just the first two. You'll want to approach them through Thomas Nott and Macha Emain in our year. Then go after Draco and only Draco. Theodore would be helpful, but he's got a violent streak that is counterproductive and should be avoided... and it's possible he's changed his mind over the summer. I heard that there was activity in the countryside over the summer. Trying to reach out to Pansy or the two grunts is useless because Draco holds the power, so just ignore them. They aren't the ones you need."

Ginny glanced at Luna out of the corners of her eyes for a second and then commented, "You know that's just a little creepy how you described each of the people I had listed on my VIP list from that house. I swear I didn't show you that list. I'd crossed off Theodore on a hunch, but it's nice to have confirmation. Thanks for the rundown, I was second guessing myself, trying to decide if I should approach Macha or Daphne first. You're so right though, Daphne's position is slightly more fragile. She's older and in Draco's year." Luna made everything seem so clear. Like the world was a series of easy decisions, so long as you held the right perspective. If the choice is difficult, then it's because you are examining it through the wrong angle. There were _some_ difficult decisions, but many were far less complex than they appeared.

The girls reached the Great Hall and Ginny gave the shorter blond a light brush on the shoulder with her hand in goodbye as they split to their respective tables.

Ginny shoved her way into the table a few seats down from the dream team and waited impatiently for the people jostling around behind her to reach the table and fill the seats. She really didn't want to sit next to either of the Creeveys. While Dennis was actually proving not to be a total carbon copy of his brother, Colin had been weird ever since the mistaken three days when he thought he was her boyfriend.

"Hey Ginny, I'm sitting across from you now, just in case you were saving it for someone." Ginny looked up as Deirdre slid into the last remaining seat around the youngest Weasley.

"Oh thank goodness." Ginny groaned in relief. "I was worried it would be another awkward meal."

Deirdre smiled as she tied her thick dark hair back away from her face. "Yeah, now that you mention it you don't sit here much. I'm usually with Susie or Ruth, but don't you normally eat with the older Ravenclaws?" She inquired, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm guilty of house-hopping. I mean I do sit here sometimes, like breakfast most days and some dinners. Or during Quidditch season, near game days. I was just really hoping to avoid sitting next to Colin this evening. Who's safely down at the other end of the table right now, thank god. It's been awkward since last year." She fiddled with her goblet sheepishly.

"Yeah right, I remember that. You looked so embarrassed and guilty when you had to break the news to him. Did he really think you were going out just cause of a little muggle spin the bottle? Poor guy. I thought for a bit about finding him a nice bloke, but he seems more like just a late bloomer. He'll find his stride eventually, prolly somewhere amongst the Hufflepuff fifth-years." Daphne finished with a wry smile.

"Hah. Yeah, pretty much I'd agree with you on all accounts." As she was speaking the Hall began to quiet down for the beginning festivities. Ginny examined the Slytherin table during the Sorting, after noting that the new minister, (Fudge had been sacked halfway through her fifth year) Emmeline Vance's aunt, Morna Vance, had provided a recently retired auror to teach them DADA this year.

Skimming to the faces that interested her and her project she began to examine them, trying to see if anything had changed over the summer. She knew that for now, the war was largely being kept away from the younger generations. Much as Tommy-boy would've liked to march it straight up to the school, the parents of Slytherin House seemed to be holding firm to the fact that they wanted their kids to graduate as Slytherins. She could see some of the strain on the Seventh years though. Privy to the kind of information she was privy to, she knew that the current Seventh years had the most first sons or daughters of rich pureblood families and Voldemort supporters out of all the grades. Sixth year was comprised mainly of a few middle-class halfbloods and a few second or third sons and daughters, who could be kept away from the war more easily than the heirs.

Ginny grinned a bit, and the noise of the hall in background echoed with young children being sorted and cheers from various houses. She thought to herself wryly, 'If I know our Slytherins, however, they'll be throwing themselves headfirst into this school year. Especially the eldest, since it's their final hurrah. They're going to want to go a little bit crazy, and I'll have the perfect controlled environment for that. This is good for me.'

She looked at Daphne Greengrass, seated with Macha Emain from Sixth year, Macha's rich halfblood boytoy from last year, and Thomas Nott. A little ways down, Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini were having a murmured conversation as Zabini's eyes swept the hall.

_The son of a black widow, and a young man who has millions and millions more coming out of his mother's latest husband, if his unfortunate run-in with that shark in Hawaii proved fatal… A Slytherin who has managed to stay neutral so far, who my brother and his friends barely knows exist, despite the fact that he's the only one of those kids who can look more dangerous than haughty. I could easily see him watching his mother prepare the death of a husband, or helping me stash a body somewhere. That's... damn intriguing._

His eyes reached her face and stopped, dwelling on hers. His elbows were up on the table, hands laced under his head as he tilted it, delivering a smoldering, intense, and distrustful gaze her way. She merely drummed her fingertips on the table in response. She couldn't help the mild smile that dropped onto her lips as her eyes gazed challengingly in response.

She gave him a smug little smile she usually saved for when she had gotten her mother to back her up against her brothers at home. He frowned slightly and turned back to his conversation with Theodore.

'Haha, little Mr. I'm too sexy for this Hall obviously thinks I'm going to be fucking with the Slytherins this year. And I don't mean that literally. Funny, I never thought he was particularly concerned with protecting his house as a whole before. Yet he was obviously warding me off from messing with the balance of power in Slytherin house…'

"Or maybe he's just gay and thought I was eyeing up Nott… honestly could be either, although my first instinct is to think he's straight but experimental." She mused allowed, realizing that the food was just appearing.

Daphne coughed a little bit into her pumpkin juice, startled by the comment that had apparently come out of nowhere. "I'm sorry-What? You haven't said a word since the sorting…" Her eyebrows lifted, "woah, just who were you referring to? I'm sure you know first-hand which of the Ravenclaws are gay or not, and the Hufflepuffs have nothing to hide. It's common knowledge among the school which ones swing and which ones don't, and widely accepted."

Ginny raised her eyebrows a bit, tempted to interrupt the girl at the beginning, "Hey now, I wasn't THAT bad last year… Well I mean I wasn't little Mary with her lamb, more like red riding hood, but I wasn't as bad as Snow White or anything."

"Sorry?" Daphne asked, totally baffled and tugging at her ponytail in frustration, "I don't follow. At all. Any of that."

Ginny grinned, "Snow White lived with seven dwarves in one little house with only seven beds. Or at least, that's as far as Colin got before I told him I wasn't into hearing stories like that. And red riding hood enticed wolves from all over the forest, but was saved by the really hot carpenter in denim jeans and a white t. And Mary was just a little girl who had a lamb for a pet."

"Yeah, you're still not making much sense, but I've heard the tale of Snow White and something tells me you've got it all wrong." Daphne snorted at Ginny as she pulled over a small bowl of pudding.

Ginny just shook her head, "I'm telling you that's what I heard from a muggle-raised student, but if you think you're right, you're right." Playfully rolling her eyes, she got back to the point. "But anyway, I was talking about Blaise Zabini."

Daphne stared at her like she was out of her mind. Popping the last bit of pudding in her mouth she pushed her plates forward a bit and put an arm up on the table to prop her head on. She watched Ginny eat for a few more seconds as if looking to be sure that Ginny was really serious and then slowly, one at a time, little snorts of laughter began to bubble up out her mouth, transforming in loud throaty laughter. Pretty soon she was nearly howling, creating a bit of commotion even for the opening feast.

"AHAHA! Oh my gosh, you!" snorts and giggles, a few gasping breaths and then, "You actualliiieeeeHEEEHEEEHEE, Oh! You seriously thought-" She paused again to grab at her sides at her eyes watered and then pounded her hand once on the edge of the thick wooden table. Slowly she got a grip on herself as she saw Ginny beginning to laugh just because of how funny Deirdre looked shaking and gasping for breath as she howled. They got a few strange looks, but all in all, it went hand in hand with the rest of the raucous activity going on at Gryffindor table.

A few minutes later she was almost ready to talk sense. "You seriously thought that Zabini was gay? Ginny, Blaise was probably giving prostitutes in Amsterdam LESSONS when you were teaching yourself how to use a tampon."

Ginny gave her a look clearly stating 'I doubt that', and dug almost ferociously into her pudding, one of the last on the table. Deirdre grinned.

"Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but I mean you have to understand. In pureblood circles on the Continent and in the London club cirquit he's almost a legend. One, he's spent at least a summer in every major wizarding hub or muggle party city in Europe and a few elsewhere thanks to his Mum and her… I dunno can we call it an occupation? I mean I'm pretty sure she falls halfway between trophy wife and hired hit man, and you could consider both a job, technically." Deirdre smiled fondly at this new thought and then upon seeing Ginny's quizzical look, continued.

"Well here's the story. Boleyn's a pretty big name in England, and well-known outside of it, but we've been a mix of muggle and wizarding for quite a while. I've got really prestigious muggle and purebood in me. So we obviously go to a bunch of parties and get shown around a lot of pureblood social circles, although my family doesn't travel in the ones the dark England families travel in. On the continent there aren't just dark and light pureblood families, you know. There're ones like mine. Old families that don't mind mixing with muggles and practice whatever kind of magic in whatever line of work we go into, or marrying more money or something. Basically, those are the kinds of circles the male Zabini is known in. Except his are more tailored towards, screw thinking about beliefs it's the summer and I'm going to get fucking wasted, blaze up a bit (pardon the pun), and spend as much of this vacation as I can partially or fully nude learning various new things such as wizarding vacation sports. So basically I suppose you're spot on except for the fact that you were deceived for a split-second by his pretty masculinity into thinking he may be gay. From what I've heard and sometimes seen he's got no problem with experimenting, though."

Ginny absorbed all that Deirdre said quickly. She was starting to wonder why Deirdre wasn't hanging out with her friends, rapidly deciding that she didn't much care and that this girl was too interesting to leave to the boring girls. She also was beginning to get the feeling that Deirdre was crucial to making her plan work. Ginny needed to understand the aspects of the richer pureblood family's lives outside of England. She knew that the less biased students were the ones whose families operated largely outside of England. She would need an understanding of that.

She was also developing what could easily become a bothersome interest into how much of what Deirdre said could be rumors and how much could be true. She'd have to check with the crowd she had met over the summer while bartending some clubs in London.

"So Deirdre, why haven't I seen you do more than wave a few times to your friends? I mean Luna and I get people wandering into our friendship to hang out with us two all the time, but it seems like you actually need some new people this year. People as in close friends, not just someone else to chat up sometimes." Ginny inquired carefully, trying not to offend her. Deirdre seemed pretty fun, but Ginny liked to hang out with people who were mature and aware of what was coming soon, faithful people who wanted to be ready for the war. She didn't want to start thinking Deirdre was awesome if the girl was going to just drop two friends because they had picked up one of her ex-boyfriends at a club or something. She also had a feeling Deirdre was talking to her more because of who she herself was, and less because of who Ruth and Susie were.

'_Luna can think I'm too paranoid all she wants, but I don't want to turn out like Harry's parents and the marauders did. Hell no, not me. I'm gonna prepare my friends so they don't crack under pressure, and at the very least I'm gonna get these kids all straightened out so there are more of us standing together than there are standing off to the side unwilling to support us all when the war comes.'_

"Ginny, you still with me?" Deirdre asked, "Cause you look really determined all of a sudden and a little bit fierce."

"Er… sorry I'm just thinking about friends and leaving people behind and meeting new people and all that. Second to last year at Hogwarts and all… So you were saying?" Ginny smiled, embarrassed at losing focus on the conversation.

Deirdre pulled her hair down agitatedly and ran a hand through it in exasperation. "It's not much really. It's just that I feel as if they haven't changed at all in two years. They talk about the same shit every day. I don't want to undermine what's important to them, but I _know _what's coming. I don't want to feel sad for some muggle family or squib that gets attacked and then forget about it the next day just because I don't like feeling a little bit uncomfortable or upset. I think it's ok to grieve for each death, it's ok to be mature about this even though we don't have to be. I know you realize this so I'm here talking to you. And I was always like that a little bit, but I grew up a little more this summer. Someone pushed me to not only read about current events but consider how they could impact me, and other countries even. Maybe I'll get sick of being aware, I don't know, but I feel like this year I'm old enough to talk to you. Last year you were sort of intimidating, so aware of what Harry Potter and your brother and our newest Head Girl were going through. Sometimes I'd see you talking with Granger and I knew you were helping her out, sifting through rumors in the school for her or something. But, hell, I'm am a Gryffindor! ... and I felt like talking to you this year, so here I am."

Ginny smiled at her, genuinely touched that the girl would think so highly of her. "I don't do all that much really. But you're coming in at a good time. I'm finely getting off my ass, or getting my ass off the Ravenclaw boys's laps really, to do something interesting." Her smile turned a little wicked and Deirdre's happy face melted into one of caution. "The best part is we'll be making a profit and probably getting boyfriends out of it too! God I love my life, and Fate, and I'm pretty sure Fate likes me, too. I'm always hearing about how Destiny's a bitch, you know, but I think that's why we get along." She grinned and stood up as Hermione called out for people to start heading up to Gryffindor. Holding out a hand, she said, "So Deirdre, I think I should just say: welcome to the team, you seriously don't know what you're getting into."

Looking only slightly apprehensive '_Bully for her_', Deirdre took the hand, her golden eyes crinkling in pleasure as she responded, "Don't you mean what you've just recruited me for?"

Linking her arm in Deirdre's as she waved bye to Luna and some other Ravenclaws Ginny said happily, "Why of course I do, but you also have no idea what you'll be doing. Just what you're getting out of it. Which should be enough for you, actually."

A surprised drawl interrupted their friendly banter. "Weasley female, that comment was surprisingly Slytherin of you. I'd be impressed if I weren't disgusted at your blatant dealings. In front of first-years too, tsk tsk. This isn't some Parisian red light district, or the kind of ghetto you may have grown up selling yourself in, Weasley. Try to pretend you have some class and stop trying to hire new girls for your business right in front of impressionable young minds, won't you?"

Ginny turned slowly, moving one arm to rest an elbow on Deirdre's shoulder, the other hand on her hip. She lounged on the girl in an aggressive and athletic pose before she responded.

"Rough summer, Malfoy? You seem a little high-strung, poor thing." She smiled in an almost friendly manner, as if inviting him to speak. Her voice was light and casual, completely non-confrontational, the words something Parkinson might have simpered at him.

There was an almost awkward pause as Malfoy frowned. He moved to turn away, assuming that he had come out on top when Pansy grabbed his arm and clung to it in a needy fashion, blurting out "I would think you'd be the one having the rough summer. You know, since you spent so much of it on your back. Are you moving on to Gryffindor girls now that you've used up your Ravenclaw clients? Or does your Ravenclaw slut not want to sell herself alongside you anymore, so you're looking for new employees? You must need someone new, as I'm sure all the boys are tired of the same old toy, even at your prices."

Ginny narrowed her eyes and pulled herself up to her full height of five-ten, a good three inches over Pansy._ 'The 'Ravenclaw slut' must mean Luna… what a pathetic insult, way too long. The girl commits like a hungry pitbull, what a simple bitch'_. She could hear people holding back her brother as he tried to get through to see what was going on. He obviously couldn't have heard what Pansy said or he'd have thrown them all off and come charging through instantly. '_Well thank you, Fate, for small favors… poor girl must have brothers too_.' Thoughts done racing, Ginny answered before Pansy could so much as smirk in celebration.

"You know Pansy, darling, I'd tell Malfoy here to try and turn to you for comfort in these 'many-a troubled times' as the Headmaster calls them, but he's pretty much used you right up, hasn't he? What do you do for him now? You aren't good for a witty comment, you can't lug things around, and he's never exactly carried you across the threshold or into the sunset, you simple thing. You can't even stand around looking pretty on his arm, not with a nose like that. Really dear just use your own money on it. He'll never marry you if he's got to pay to fix you. And we all know money is the only thing that keeps a Parkinson slinking around." She stepped closer so she wouldn't be heard by any teachers that may be milling around outside the crowd of students. Pansy, whitening in fear or anger, released Malfoy and stepped forward to meet her, but Ginny wasn't done yet. "How many boys did you have to blow to get those pretty little earrings Pansy? Don't pin your indiscretions on me just because your body won't fit the contract requirements for a pureblooded trophy wife." With the final crushing verbal blow delivered, and Tom Riddle's advice once again proving invaluable, Ginny turned to Malfoy and changed subjects rapidly, "Your shoes are from Vetemente Magique's fall line. I didn't think they were selling them yet."

He looked at her and said cautiously, "They aren't, Weasley."

"Impeccable taste, Malfoy. They're quite sassy." Ginny smirked as his eyes narrowed slightly in confusion and Pansy's mouth dropped open as the cow assumed Ginny was hitting on "Her Man". The redhead pivoted, tugging Deirdre away by the arm. As she walked away the crowds parted to let her leave and she swore she saw Zabini lauding her with silent golf claps. The teachers, seeing the crowds dissipate, left the situation alone, relieved to see that it was only Ginny and Malfoy involved, nowhere near as volatile a combination as Ron and a Slytherin, or Harry and Malfoy.

Ginny was immediately accosted by her brother and his best friends. Unless Hermione really was his girlfriend by now, Ginny still couldn't really tell… they had blurred the line to a ridiculous extent this past summer.

"Ginny!! What happened?" He asked loudly, yanking her closer by the shoulder as if to check her over for injuries.

"Honestly Ron, relax, I'm fine. We really just exchanged words. That bint," she cut herself off at the look Hermione gave her, "I mean that cow Pansy simply blew things right out of proportion and forced the situation to get a little out of hand. Deirdre and I are going up. Really, Hermione I think you're needed over there. I'll go take the firsties to the room if you give me the password."

That said, the Trio went rushing off and Ginny, doing her duty as a prefect, led the first-years to the Fat Lady.

Greeting the portrait graciously Ginny announced clearly, "David Copperfield" and the entrance swung open as the Fat Lady wondered loudly how long she'd have to open to such a dull password.

That night Ginny and Deirdre didn't get much of a chance to talk thanks to the other two girls in the room. They exchanged some brief words in the bathroom. Deirdre expressed her slight envy and overall case of glee at Ginny's public dressing-down of Pansy.

"Seriously, Gin, if I know Theo Nott he will absolutely refuse to let that go. He loves shoving it in her face when people tell her what they really think of her. He does it all the time and he goes absolutely GIDDY when people back him up. It's the one thing he and his brother always agree on. He doesn't always get to mock her at school. Draco usually keeps her around for her rabid loyalty, and so I've heard that it isn't really a good idea to insult her. After all out of Crabbe, Goyle, and Millicent she's the smartest, although granted, that's not really saying much. Oh and you have to tell me what that thing with Malfoy was about." Deirdre stopped there as she finished up brushing her teeth and headed out back into the dorm room. "G'night!"

"Night…" Ginny paused in her preparations as Deirdre left, considering the girl's words. _'Hmm… if I know Theo Nott, she said?… Wow, this girl is not who I thought she was. And to think I never knew she could be interesting. It's very cool that she isn't bothered by my run of the Raven boys last year… although considering her ancestors' history…_

A/N: if your confused here look up Anne Boleyn… Anne Boleyn was one of the King of England's wives, started out as his mistress sort of, the mother of Elizabeth I (accused of being a witch). Her cousin was the King's mistress before her (both were Boleyns)

_And she's damn helpful too. I mean I knew that most of the stinking rich kids were in Slytherin, but the fact that there was an international and England-centered crowd completely skipped my notice. That would explain why some are so aggressive and others obviously don't give a flying fuck about the local politics. Hah, and it looks like my suspicions about Malfoy are correct as well. With a war coming up and Voldemort back, he turns to clothes to keep himself comforted? Hah, I think I'm gonna like this year.'_

**DAS ENDE of chapitre dos. or something.**


	3. Beastly Workouts and Fine assets

Disclaimer: It ain't mine, probably cause I'm nowhere near the writer JK is…

Thanks, Fifespice, for your reviews!!! I'm glad you like Ginny. Do me a favor, readers in general, and holler if you think she's getting off character… I'm doing my best but most of the first two chapters were written last year. This one's the first fresh one!

Also: I need a beta!! If anyone is willing, please contact me, maybe with some info about whether you've beta'd before, what it's been, etc. Or if anyone has an idea of how I can get a beta, that would be helpful too! Thanks!

**Chapter Three: Connections revealed, Deirdre's usefulness**

Ginny woke when she heard the door to the bathroom open. Accustomed to a loud house, and normally an uncompromisingly sound sleeper, returning to Hogwarts always seemed to have an adverse effect on her. Rather than sleeping soundly through the occasional noise present in the pleasant muffled quiet of the castle, any noise at all tended to wake her up. Of course normally she would have rolled over and resumed dreaming, not much bothered. But not this morning. There was just far too much to be done, the future to rewrite, Fate herself to bargain with, boys who didn't want to come out of their invisible closets whom she'd have to drag by the heels, as subtly as possible. And the depressing knowledge that until Quidditch started, she'd have to work out alone, since there weren't any clubs to dance in for hours as there had been in London this summer.

'_Yet_' she thought to herself as she rolled over twice, falling in a heap straight onto the thick rug next to her bed.

"Oh god. Is that normal for you?" Came a startled and deep female voice, thick and rough from having just risen.

Ginny heaved herself to her feet shaking her head back and forth on her neck, and then shaking everything out, as if she were completing the motions to the final stanza of the Hokey-Pokey.

"Ah, that's the way to get up!" she yawned widely, looking at a Deidre whom, despite the sound of her voice, was already changed into muggle sweats and an American wife-beater over a halter-top sports bra. "I've gotta start convincing my body that it wants to be moving and energetic right off the bat, you see, or it simply refuses to move for another hour." She said softly, grinning to Deirdre. Yanking some clothes out, she headed towards the adjoining washroom.

"Weird, but makes sense…" Deirdre muttered as she tied back her thick dark hair. Moving on to make her bed and put away the things she had worn last night, she didn't notice Ginny until she turned to leave the room.

Ginny was dressed in muggle attire as well, but it was clearly well-worn (probably by a guy, maybe one of her older brothers). She had on a black sports-bra underneath a large t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off. She was also wearing black basketball shorts that went almost to her knees and beat-up muggle tennis shoes. Her hair was in the process of being arranged severely into a French braid that began high atop Ginny's head.

"You know, you don't usually get up this early unless you're on patrol as prefect. I can honestly say I don't think I've ever noticed you working out without anyone but the Quidditch team… what prompted this?" Deirdre inquired, sitting on the edge of her bed as Ginny continued on with her hair at a rapid pace.

"Well I figure I'm already in shape from this summer, why waste these few weeks between summer and Quidditch to lapse back into bad habits? I'll only be kicking myself for it in a few weeks." She commented, tying off the braid with a flourish.

"And are you going to be flying round with that crowd that does laps around the towers and roofs near the top of the castle, then? I think you may be late for their early-morning kick-off. They start bloody early. Insane, the lot of them." Deirdre commented as the girls made their way down the steps and out of their common room.

"No, actually. I find laps really boring. I dunno if running will be any better, but I know some muggle cross-fitness work-outs now that really keep a girl on her toes. They're not boring and they're fast, too, even if you do need a stopwatch for most." Ginny pointed out her standard-issue wizarding watch. "Mine's pretty piss-poor for timing things and such, but I figure I'll do something this morning that doesn't require a stopwatch type setting."

Deirdre looked at her and smiled. "Yeah, if there's one thing the muggles have got down pat (aside from large weapons of mass destruction) it's millions of different methods of working out. I got into a discussion like this with one of my muggle second cousins once. We agreed that they have so many different sports and things probably because it's their way of releasing energy. We use so much energy in our spells that they don't use while doing regular school-work… But they use incredible amounts of energy up in sports, work-outs, martial arts. He's a football player, himself, and spends absolutely every minute he can messing about with the ball. It's very entertaining, watching him bounce it up and down on his head." They were all the way down at the Great Hall at this point.

Ginny grinned at her and responded, "Yeah, I know what you mean. I spent most of my time in muggle London this summer and it was so strange suddenly to be in a world that different. Most half-bloods or muggle-borns don't mention it, but I think the biggest difference is being in a world where suddenly everyone is moving about all the time, exercising, getting up early and running about and then going to play or watch a sport in the evening, or go dancing for hours on end. Once I got used to it, I loved it though! It's really changed me a bit. I feel as though I can get so much more done in one day. I miss running my body ragged as well as my magic. It makes me think how much can get done that we simply don't try for. I mean, for a while now I've had all these great ideas of things I would want to try- and before that I had complaints about things that the administration or the ministry should do. Or things that I wish were happening at Hogwarts, such as cooperation between the houses, especially in the year above us. Because, you know, to me it's just so OBVIOUS that something MUST be done. I feel like I finally have enough energy to go out there and change it all! And not just right at this moment, either, but throughout the entire next two years at this school. I have all these spectacular ideas I've never had the gall to try, and suddenly I know all these little things I could to try and make things work, and I just so want to help because I finally realize there are things I can do that Harry and them can't or don't have time for. It's liberating and exciting and refreshing! And, now I've pretty much talked your ears right out of your head. Sorry… I haven't really said any of that out loud yet. Luna was with me for most of this summer and well, you know her, she sort of just knew what the change in me was without me even having to say." Ginny stopped talking, looking flushed and embarrassed as she stepped out of the Great Hall. She looked around, obviously unsure of whether she and Deirdre were going to be working out together, or alone. "Oh man, I don't even remember what started that. Er, so... working out?"

Deirdre had listened to all of this, feeling inspired herself as she heard Ginny get worked up. Almost bursting with emotion and a need to respond, but not really knowing what to say, she pointed to the lake in an attempt to end the awkward pause. "Do a warm-up lap with me, jogging, to the lake and around the edge to the Forest and then we can stretch. I know some people who usually drop by in the mornings to work out with me." Ginny nodded, bouncing on her feet a bit, and the two girls began, with Ginny setting a pace probably a hair slower than Deirdre's normal one. Deirdre simply settled into the rhythm, thinking about what Ginny had said, thinking about her own experiences, getting herself worked up and not able to let go of the emotions building in her.

The minute they came close to the forest, about even with Hagrid's hut, Deirdre tugged on Ginny, who had been running in silence, looking lost in her own thoughts. They both began to stretch, slowly and carefully.

Deirdre stared at Ginny, who looked totally focused on laying her forehead on her knee, and suddenly blurted out, "What you said… I know how- I mean, I, I feel as though you've just put into words exactly what I've been feeling for so long. I was frustrated because I love England so dearly, but each summer I leave it all behind when we travel, and there's such a difference returning for august before school starts again. And then we get here and it's so wonderful, but some things are so repressed!

"I feel as though the prejudices from the older generations in England are pressed upon the younger people at this school, and we're all so separated, and I've just barely begun to connect that feeling with the fact that there's a war going to be starting soon. And when I just sit back and think about it all, it's so ridiculous that we can't just stand together and say, Fuck off and give us control of the country already, you've screwed us all over enough. But then I realize that the next people to take over could just mess it up all over again, and I really know who I trust and don't, but I don't think that they've got enough help to get England to where she needs to be. And then I saw you and Luna and thought about last year, and how you're always helping the Three from the outside. And I got into that row with my friends because everything they care about felt so mundane last year, and feels so useless and petty this year. And I don't mean to sound heartless and call them petty because they aren't, they just… we just… My priorities are shifting, and I don't think theirs are."

Deirdre sighed and pulled one arm out to the side holding it in place with the opposite hand as she stretched the muscle. She looked over at Ginny, who had a thoughtful, but intense look on her face. Ginny smiled warmly at Deirdre, and took her time thinking before answering her.

"Yeah, I think you were right about knowing how I felt. It's nice to rave about it to someone finally and hear the best kind of response. I'll be honest with you. I'm planning to do something about it and I'm not going to be orthodox about it at all." Ginny finally said, bluntly. Deirdre gave a little laugh at this, trying to think if Ginny had ever been orthodox about anything she was passionate about. Ginny continued,

"Dumbledore is an extremely progressive headmaster and I plan to use that to do this thing my way. So far, he's gotten a bad rep with the Slytherins, mainly cause he's progressive about things that are counter to the beliefs of many of their parents. Rather than making this about muggle-borns and purebloods getting along, I want this to be presented to the students as us versus the administration." Deirdre started smiling widely, beginning to see where Ginny was going with this. "This is not going to be us doing what Dumbledore and that damn hat keep requesting we do, just kiss and make-up. This is going to be a lot of smart and driven individuals growing up and accepting things now before we all go out and get killed and betrayed learning the facts of life away from a sheltered school. Right now, I know a lot of people who only believe what they think they believe because no one's tried to present logical reasons why they may be wrong. And I know kids who feel repressed because they aren't necessarily compatible with people in their house. And I've met so many people who I think need to meet someone in a different grade or house because I just know that they could rely on each other after school. I even have some ideas about students who need connections to get the right job after school, and who to introduce them to… I just feel like I want to throw them all in a room and see if I was right. I feel bold, not manipulative necessarily. I have ideas for matchmaking, but I also don't want to make people miserable if I'm wrong. Is this making any sense?"

Ginny stopped and realized she was pacing and waving her arms a bit, since she tended to speak with her hands. Deirdre looked at her, more affectionate than awed this time.

"Absolutely. You're going to go about it like a Gryffindor. I'm not saying I've got a sneaking suspicion that you've got a few, ahem, tendencies from other houses, but you definitely are trying to see what will come about rather than forcing things to happen your way. I like the idea. Just think about how many things could go wrong if people tried to do this all themselves? That's what Fate is for, she does the planning, and we just do our damnedest to work with it. That's my current impression of the world anyway…" Deirdre summed up, rising to her feet and gazed over the lake, as though she was searching for something.

Ginny looked at Deirdre, thankful for the girl's fresh look on Ginny's plans. After all, the girl had no inkling of how manipulative Dumbledore could be at times, but still managed to see what Ginny was trying to avoid. She began to mutter to herself, pulling absent-mindedly at the grass. "Wow, I think she's got a better grasp on my idea than me. And … yes I do think she's right, maybe that's why He's going to be defeated in Harry's time and not Dumbledore's… Harry's style, Mione's, Ron's, it's all more hands-off, allow people to think what they want to think. But the question is, who's going to be the figurehead in the future… If we don't all die. Damn, and I always love wondering and guessing until that little thought occurs to me… Hm, What _are _you doing, D?" Ginny's mutterings transformed into an actual question when she noticed Deirdre wave to two forms splashing about in the water.

"What, you think I usually wait this long after stretching before I run off and find my group? They're late, actually, by at least five minutes… The only question is who is it this morning? It's not always the same bunch, one or two of them prefers to fly round the castle with the crazy lot up there right now, and another just swims round the lake most mornings… some of them only wake up half the time." She trailed off as two male forms pulled themselves up onto the large rocks which bordered the lake near the Forbidden Forest.

Ginny looked on, raising an eyebrow and wondering if Deirdre Boleyn's old best friends had known who her 'work-out buddies' were. This morning, anyway, it was Blaise Zabini and Thomas Nott, younger brother of Theodore. She walked towards them, listening to Deirdre greet them casually. "Surprise, surprise," Ginny murmured to herself, wandering closer as Deirdre walked over to them.

"Hey, Thom. I'm guessing your brother chose flying this morning?" The dark-haired girl inquired.

The Slytherin was wearing only a pair of swim trunks. The younger Nott boy was built taller and thinner than his brother. Ginny thought he looked strong in a lanky, wiry kind of way. His hair, normally thin and brown, was dripping and plastered against his skull, with pieces dangling in his eyes. All in all, although he wasn't anything near her type, Ginny thought he looked quite cute. Especially out of the black and green of the school uniform.

"Yeah" he answered, looking at Ginny curiously. "What's she doing here? I wasn't aware you two were any kind of close." He looked mildly surprised, even. She remembered that he was one of the quieter Slytherins, and a lot of the Ravenclaws had nice things to say about him. She also recalled that he was one of the Slytherin prefects that the Hufflepuffs didn't mind getting paired with for patrols. Which said rather a lot, really.

Ginny looked over Zabini as Deirdre replied vaguely that she and Ginny had found they had several more things in common now than they had last year.

Zabini, she realized, was far more attractive than anyone had a right to be this early in the morning. It just was not fair that he looked that good and she was still too grumpy to care or drool as much as she would normally. Not that looking him over more than once would hurt.

Zabini was very dark-skinned, and it must have been natural, because he didn't have any tan lines. He was dressed in the type of bathing suit that was popular in Europe, a speedo that looked more like little spandex shorts. (A/N: think Casino Royale James Bond here, people, when he's on the beach coming out of the water- that kind of speedo. I'm not really sure if it has a particular name, but I know it would look hot on Blaise!) He had impossibly high cheekbones, a strong jaw, and dark wavy hair that was stuck to his head at the moment. Her eyes lingered wistfully on his body, displayed nicely by his choice of clothing. He was more visibly muscled than Thomas. His body tilted away from her, looking at Nott and Deirdre while they spoke, and she could tell that he bore some sort of tattoo on his back.

She yanked her eyes back up after just a second or two, not wanting to stare. There was a difference between a very appreciative glance and undressing someone with your eyes, after all. Zabini turned towards Deirdre and said in a pleasantly deep voice that was gruff with annoyance, "Hello. Obviously, Macha decided sleeping was a more rewarding use of her time on her first day back, so we don't really have any interesting options aside from running. I've been thinking that this is all getting a little boring, doing the same type of routine every day. It's a shame we don't have any proper equipment, wizarding or muggle."

"Honestly, you say the same thing each time you come out… You're usually just swimming round on your own anyway, Zabini… Oh, and Ginny here was mentioning something about cross-fitness that may interest you. You do know her?" Deirdre motioned to Ginny, who nodded and yawned once more behind her hand.

"Yeah, right, hello, lovely to speak with you for the first time in my life. Deirdre, you know what I said about needing to move or falling asleep again? I wasn't really kidding. So how does this work? Are you all just going to swim, or run or something?" Ginny inquired.

"Oh, right, sorry bout that. Normally first day back from holiday Macha shows us some interesting stuff, she knows all sorts of ways to hurt people and interesting muggle games and work-outs, you know." Deirdre said. "None of us, aside from Zabini, who used to see a personal trainer, really know much about anything other than the typical running, swimming, and flying." Ginny looked towards Zabini, about to ask a question, but was cut off as Deirdre continued, "And before you ask, he's got a dreadful memory for this kind of thing. Not to mention he's never sure what type of workout he wants us to do… If we left it up to him, we'd never get a full workout in. God I wish Macha weren't being lazy. She usually takes charge, she's a total beast, obsessed with being in 'tiptop condition' or some rot."

"But she got landed with Dark Arts first today, and she doesn't know what the teacher will be like. So, better awake than tired, she says." Thomas cut in. "Dunno why she didn't just decide to go to sleep at a normal hour like the rest of us…"

Zabini, who was beginning to look slightly murderous, commented in a chillingly light tone, "So now we have to start the entire year with a boring lap around the bleeding lake."

Deirdre sighed and shrugged helplessly at Ginny, while Thom snorted and said, for Ginny's benefit, "Considering the fact that you pretty much think any exercise we repeat so much as once is boring, you could just contribute a little idea to the brainstorming process."

"Oh!" Ginny said, as inspiration struck her, "Hold up I've got a wicked idea. Have you ever gone hashing? It's an American muggle style of cross-country running." The others looked at each other blankly. "Damn. It wouldn't have worked anyway, since the forest is off-limits, but maybe some other morning when we have time to set it up and make sure it's safe… Forget it. In the meantime, have any of you heard of the workout named Fran? It's fast but it's a total bitch…" She grinned wickedly and began explaining.

About twenty minutes later, after using trees with low branches for pull-ups and after Zabini used Deirdre's wand to transfigure rocks into weighted bars for thrusters, everyone was collapsed on the ground. Thom groaned loudly, lying out completely on the ground, face to the sky, the arm flung over his eyes still trembling.

"What the bloody fuck was that, Weasley? Ohh, I should've taken the lighter weight, my arms are going to be too shaky for wand-work." He complained. Ginny laughed lightly, still catching her breath.

"Well, if you want the truth we did the more difficult version of Fran, the running Fran. Normally you don't run 400 meters in the middle, but Zabini said he was bored, so…" She trailed off, looking over at the oldest one of the four. "And don't worry about the trembling, Nott, you'll have it under control by the time you've showered and had breakfast. Maybe." Zabini looked like he was just about getting himself back to normal, which made sense, since he finished first out of all of them.

He pulled himself to his feet, still trembling a bit, and then walked over to Nott. "Alright, we've gotta get back so we have time to use the Prefect's bathroom before breakfast. Come on, Thomas, pull yourself together. If your brother beats us there, he'll be in there for a full half-hour before one of us gets a shot." This remark managed to get Thomas to his feet, where he began to slowly but surely mosey back to the castle. Zabini made to follow, and then turned back, ticking a raised hand in a slight wave at the two girls. Ginny smiled and gave a little toss of her arm in acknowledgment, while Deirdre just continued gasping for air. She was maybe not as aerobically inclined as Ginny and the other two boys.

"Not a bad choice for our first day back, Ginny Weasley." Zabini told her, lingering on her name, pronouncing the words more carefully, as if to say: which one should I call you by? "Fran's one of the American cross-fitness exercises... I'm pretty sure I remember doing it before. Maybe I'll see you two tomorrow." Nodding again, he and Thomas Nott continued their trek towards the castle. Ginny watched them go, marveling at the ass that was Zabini. He really did have a sadistically fabulous body…

"Yeah, so Ginny" Deirdre said, attempting to stand, "Whenever you're done appreciating Zabini's very fine assets, we should prolly head back as well. And hey, you're lucky, cause the boys don't mind you. Or should I say Zabini. He's pretty picky. He's the only one worth crap to any plans you may have to engage the Seventh-year Slytherins. Daphne's absolutely silent on most issues in Slytherin house as she ignores politics like though her life depends on it, and she's the only other opening I'd imagine you could've had in the Seventh years. So good for you, cause now you've got a good chance of pulling off whatever your first crazy stunt is. I wasn't sure if he'd bother hanging around once I saw Macha wasn't here. Swimming's the only thing that doesn't completely bore him to tears on a regular basis." She said as Ginny followed her towards the main doors. Ginny squinted and watched the small crowd of brooms continue to loop around the tops of the castle.

"Hey, thanks D. Plans aside, it's nice to have some people to work out with who aren't the Quidditch team. I like meeting new people, different people." She answered as the girls plodded towards the castle door.

Back in real time:

Ginny slid away from her memories slowly and carefully, leaving the white wisps floating in the pensieve.

"Ugh" she moaned, leaning a head on the table and nursing a headache. "I'm doing this too slowly… Maybe if I skip some. I don't need to put in EVERYTHING, after all." Pulling out a quill, ink, and some parchment she scribbled onto the sheet: 'note to self: leaving out majority of memories in which Luna and I, with the help of Winky and Dobby, refurbish _the Corridor_. Will show first time revealing idea, and then skip to first important memory near important opening. Show to Dennis later, be sure it all makes sense!!!'

"Right then," Ginny said, picking up her wand and bravely facing the bowl once more. At least reliving the memories was fun…

**yay! Now, on to the next chapter --**


	4. Despierto

Disclaimer: not mine.

Hopefully you won't find this chapter totally dull… mostly I explain what the club looks like so I don't have to do it later on… I also named each room, which took FOREVER. By the way, I'll be using Pablo Neruda's love poetry a lot in this fic, cause I'm hooked on it right now, so there'll be Spanish popping up here and there.

The end is exciting though, so stick with the chapter! I actually go on to develop a few characters at the end!!

If you wanna see what my idea of Blaise is go online and look for Ingo Franz, the model, on google. Also you can google Kiia Waden if you wanna see my idea of Ginny (the ones where she has curly hair and her freckles are showing- it makes me think of what ginny will look like a few years into this fic). I'll put up links in my profile or something, too.

**Chapter Four**- _Despierto_ (Wide-Awake)

Lunchtime- First full day back to school

Ginny was standing in a little-used hallway with Luna. The two had just been released from Potions, which was now a Newt-level class attended by several students from each house. They had made the decision to forgo lunch in favor of getting a head-start on Ginny's plans. Deirdre was eating lunch as usual at the Gryffindor table with some of her friends from last year, but had agreed to meet them during the free-period afterward.

"I'm so excited!" Luna said, breathless from starry-eyed excitement, "I'll bet there are millions of dust bunnies scurrying around down here."

Ginny raised her eyebrows, looking at her friend, whose eyes were nearly glowing. "You know that's only a muggle expression, right? And besides, I spoke to Dobby and Winky in the kitchens after breakfast, during my free period. They said they kept it clean, so no dust, just what was there last year. Hey, you wanna handle Cadogen this time?" Ginny waved at the crazy knight blathering on non-stop, not caring whether the girls were listening.

Luna smiled slightly, still looking a little wistful over the dust bunnies, and turned to the painting.

"Sir Knight, regarding the topic of love not yet realized and come to terms with, I say to you the true words that _A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet_. This phrase of course pertaining to the fact that the Gryffindor/Slytherin hatred in this school must be breached, to prevent all of the Romeo and Juliets to come, and to unite the ones that refuse to entertain even the idea of love for each other. And so, do please open for us two fair maidens. Many thanks and blessings upon your painting, sir." With that the knight, weeping and praising Luna's "wise words of divine truth", swung open.

Ginny followed Luna in, laughing at Luna's unnecessary speech. Nudging the shorter girl, Ginny added "You know, thank goodness that Dumbledore's most unreliable painting is actually great once you give him a line of Shakespeare or sappy poetry. Who knew? Once he starts crying he's absolutely obedient. Far from being a difficult and insane man who doesn't know what he's saying, you just recite a bit of poetry and he cracks like an egg. Honestly, the headmaster thought he was getting the most unreliable painting to guard the corridor he doesn't want all the Astronomy Tower couples to know about when really this guy's the perfect one for the job, because he won't even talk to other paintings. He won't give us up to Dumbledore, because he's faithful to '_young love and honor first and foremost'_…" She trailed off, and the girls realized they could still hear the man weeping through the door. "Ugh, unfortunately, he's still annoying. Can't be helped, I suppose." Making her way over to the trapdoor, Ginny knelt down.

"Speak for yourself, Ginny, but personally I think Cadogan is wonderful. Do you know, he swears there's a wood nymph hiding in one of the hills in his painting. I told him it may just be a buzzleberry, and he said there's a good chance I'm right." Luna said fondly.

Ginny rolled her eyes and brushed a fond hand over the trapdoor, then kissed it lightly. It swung right open, as Winky had enchanted it to do.

"Oh my, it's a good thing we know Winky's absolutely neurotic about cleanliness, or you could be risking getting a million different diseases with that opening spell." Luna commented mildly. Ginny looked up at her and grinned and then leapt down into the darkness.

She fell, fell, fell, much farther than she remembered from last year and then… She landed softly on a massive beanbag. One that took up the majority of the room in which the Golden Trio faced the Devil's Snare plant. It was charmed for extra comfort and stuck to the floor and walls. The charms gave it a sort of water-bed effect, making it feel more as though the substance inside was shifting like a hill made of miniature squishy bubbles as you struck it.

The only light in the room came from glowing words written in calligraphy all over the walls and ceiling in colors like red, orange, magenta, and yellow. Ginny and Luna had written them up themselves with their wands, a calligraphy spell tied to a long-lasting version of the lumos charm. On the ceiling was written, "Welcome to Despierto. We ask only that you stay awake. Espero: Llugas. Never close your eyes."

Around the room were quotes or segments of famous literature or prophecies chosen by Ginny and Luna, or random advice such as, "Do not pass through this room unless you are ready to treat the world with disrespect in order to uphold what you believe is the truth." Or Nietzsche's "All truth is simple… is that not doubly a lie?". There were many passages from Pablo Neruda's 'The Captain's Verses', Ginny's favorite book of love poems. There were also words around the top of each wall, written in glowing electric blue in an unending ring, "Awake, aware, eyes open, sleep not, disrespect, disillusioned, without cares, desperate, disregard, no man left to sleep or die, left behind, the last become the first, the lost ones, the new generation, we stay…" And then the reader was back to where they began. Awake.

Ginny slid off of the bean-platform and stepped over the stones speckled with glowing silver dots like stars. The room continued on as a stone tunnel, decorated in the same fashion as the room, sloping downward a bit and continuing until you reached a door. The door was very simple, and together the girls had engraved in dark red ink that glittered, "Indiferencia: Despedir". Again, Spanish, which translated as,

'Disregard: to dismiss', because at this point, the students going in 'Despierto', or 'Wide-Awake', would have to be willing to at least disregard the rules of Hogwarts. Ginny hoped that eventually they would learn to forget the world outside as soon as they fell into her first little room.

As Ginny moved through the doorway, she heard a soft 'swiiisshhhh, whump!' as Luna landed safely behind her. This second room with a high ceiling was the one in which Harry, Ron, and Hermione had flown to find a flying key. The room was still well-lit, by something Luna recognized as a charm which copied the effect of sunlight streaming through windows, despite the fact that they were underground and there wasn't so much as a single pane of glass. It was shaped like a long hall with a vaulted cieling. Ginny had designed this room to be more of a social room, a bar/common room. If one looked up, in glowing spring-green was written "Pre". Luna had suggested the prefix because the room was the step which must come before anything else in Ginny's plans could come true.

The room was done primarily in greens, with cream, gold, and brown supporting colors. The girls had known better than to ask the two elves where they had procured the nice, but comfortable and casual furniture from. The girls sometimes thought wistfully that it was Dumbledore's blessing, although they didn't know how he would have learned what they were planning.

The bar was Winky and Dobby's surprise for Ginny and Luna, completed as they were away over the summer. Ginny gasped happily when she saw it, and made her way over. Dobby had told her earlier that it was a gift, created from wood Hagrid had given him, chopped down in the Forbidden Forest. The bar was handsome and dark. The material gave the stretch of wall the bar was on a different look than the rest of the room, as though the charm didn't affect it as much as it did the rest of the hall. The bar area looked like it was deep into a forest, as opposed to the rest of the room, which made one think of a tasteful and cheery wood. According to Dobby it was an exact replica of Madame Rosmerta's, thanks to Dobby's summer job, which was simply an arrangement to clean up her bar for a small wage each night. It had given him the opportunity to inspect it thoroughly and magically to the point where he was able to recreate it.

The furniture around the spacious room was a mix of couches, loveseats, coffee tables done in varying shades of wood, and cushy stools with a hunter-green top. The stools were at the bar, and the rest of the furniture was arranged in bunches around the room giving it a very casual feel, and leaving plenty of room to walk through the room to the next one.

As Ginny ran her hands over the bar and stepped behind it, she heard Luna open the door. She looked up to see the silver-eyed girl wincing at the change in light.

"Oh my, Dobby and Winky have truly outdone themselves." She said. Her eyes looked extra wide, making her face look as odd as it had back in fourth and third year before her face had become long enough to accommodate her silver orbs. Ginny knew the startled expression meant she was surprised and pleased.

Luna smiled and clapped her hands as she approached. "And I thought nothing could make me love them more than the fact Winky knew all the right sound system spells to cast for the Chessroom. Oh the snublubs would love it here. Maybe this is my real chance to catch some, although they usually appear in open air and not underground…" Luna trailed off as she plotted her next attempt at catching creatures Ginny had never heard of.

Ginny rolled her eyes, a common occurrence where Luna was concerned, and walked around the bar to plop onto a stool, facing Luna, who was now inspecting the area behind the bar as she mumbled to herself.

"Ok, so basically I was thinking that I'd run the bar till one, and you'd run the bar after one. Dobby and Winky will help, but the actual drink mixing will be up to us. I planned on getting Dennis to help out, even though neither of us knows him very well." Ginny eyed Luna to be sure the girl was hearing her through the blond's own soft one-sided conversation. Satisfied, she continued, "I'd heard that he works as a barista every time he goes back to the muggle world. He'll know we can only pay if the first night goes well, though, so I don't know if he'd agree. Hopefully he needs the money. We can only hope for the best and pray that most people only order the bottled drinks or something I've already taught you, once I'm off-shift. I'm sure most of them don't know much about anything beyond firewhiskey and butterbeer anyway." Ginny looked at Luna, who was leaned up against the bar now, having stopped talking, smiling and nodding as she listened.

"Ok then, shall we move onto the next one?" Luna asked, standing up to leave.

"Oh, definitely! Hopefully I'll still like it. You know, it could turn out the way my essays do and I could want to change it completely, even though I just snuck in to redecorate it a month ago. I must be the only student to ever sneak in to her school during the summer… Although I admit, I couldn't have done it without Harry's cloak and our two little helpers! Oh, you'll love this Luna!" Ginny said excitedly as they made their way to the final room open to the public. The final door led to the room where her brother once battled against McGonagall's giant chess set. Upon the door was the name of the actual club, in Spanish, 'Asi te veo' written in dark grey and blue over an engraving of the sun and the moon.

"Asi te veo?" Luna murmured.

"Thus I see you." Ginny replied, touching the painted engraving with her fingertips. Luna's quiet inquiry made it difficult for Ginny to simply explain away her feelings brashly the way she had with Deirdre the first morning back. This moment reminded Ginny strongly of the fact that Luna never needed explanations, but instead tended to heighten Ginny's sentimental emotions. Few people understood how long it took Ginny to name something, and when she did the names often meant things that others couldn't understand. But Luna always grasped Ginny's meaning, and often understood more about her choices than Ginny herself. Unfortunately, the redhead often felt as though Luna was pulling the emotions from Ginny into herself in situations like these. It was disconcerting, but the pale girl's calm understanding made it worth it.

"Ah. Ginny and Sir Cadogan both have a thing for themes and poetry, don't they?" Luna remarked innocently to the air, or perhaps to herself, as she slid past Ginny to open the door. Ginny snorted at the girl's oddness, and followed her in.

Luna paused upon entering and grabbed Ginny's hand as the girls waited for their eyesight to adjust. Luna's first impression was that she had been plunged into the night sky, with moons, stars, planets, and neon blue and purple comets below her where a floor would be. Ginny smiled as her eyesight became more attuned to the dark lighting and looked at what two days without sleep had yielded. Luckily it hadn't taken more time, since Ginny had drawn up plans before sneaking in to the school.

The floor of the room had never been transfigured back… the majority was left as a truly massive chessboard. The checkered square provided the perfect dance floor because it had all been previously smoothed out by McGonagall so that the giant pieces could slide effortlessly around the board. But the animation of the figurines had worn off long ago. By the time Ginny and Luna had gotten bored enough to try exploring the corridor Ginny had heard all about from Ron, what remained of the vicious things were large piles of rubble and motionless statues. The elves had made short work of those, simply allowing the girls to charm them weightless and 'Pop'-ing them out to a clearing somewhere in the Forbidden Forest.

The ceiling, not as high as the last one but still higher than that of a normal room, was speckled with miniature glowing silver spheres. The dots had been spelled to imitate several major constellations present in the night sky during autumn. The room had originally been a cave and the ceiling had been left in its natural state. It had a slight curve upward so that it roughly resembled a shallow dome, although not at all like the manmade vaulted ceiling in the previous room.

Ginny had gone over the entire floor, spelling the black chess spaces a dark blue and leaving the white ones. At various points on the ceiling were the planets Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus, not necessarily placed in accurate locations in the fake sky.

These were centered above various squares on the chessboard and on these squares were raised pedestals with a single steel pole. The closer the planet was to the sun, the higher the pedestal. Ginny had placed them so that they created a makeshift spiral from roughly the center of the board to the outside. They looked pleasantly random from any angle but the doorway, which had stone steps leading down to the dance floor. At the ceiling, where the pole met the stone 'sky' was an illustration of each planet and the name written around it in glowing cursive script, a different color for each planet. Neptune and Uranus were placed diagonally next to each other in a corner of the board. All four blocks in that corner were raised, two blue and two white. There were only two poles, so two people could dance together on the lowest platform.

"The sister planets." Luna whispered softly to herself, quieting as she continued her inspection.

Aside from the sister planets, each planet and its pole was placed on a blue square. The corners of the raised block were lined in glowing neon lights, indigo, turquoise, silver, and dark purple.

"The blue squares which symbolize the planets all have spells in the illustration of the planet to cast a spotlight on the platform when activated. The white squares are capable of lighting up, as a sort of reverse spotlight. It'll make whoever is on the lit square look really cool…" Ginny commented softly, scanning the room with her friend.

"Oh, wow! Gin you completely outdid yourself!" Luna gasped breathily. Ginny looked at her and smiled when she saw the proud look on her friend's face and tears in her eyes.

Luna and Ginny had done the bare minimum together last year before leaving. Winky, previously the house-elf of a rambunctious boy who hid his rebellious tendencies from a strict father had been extremely helpful. Turns out she knew some amazing sound spells, very complicated ones that could hijack the signal of any wizarding wireless frequency on the British Isles or play any tracks provided. The little elf was also not afraid of keeping secrets from Dumbledore, especially not after Ginny begged, pleaded, cried, and explained in depth just why breaking the rules was actually for a good cause this time.

Luna and Ginny had transfigured a counter out of the wall last year, before setting up the stereo system with Winky. It was for serving water, firewhiskey, or butterbeer only (basically the drinks that could be bottled, and therefore sold quickly) and lined the wall to the left of the doorway. There was open space all around the chessboard, which would allow the students to walk through the room without requiring them to dance, but made it inconvenient so as to coerce them into dancing.

The walls were another touch of Ginny's. They were merely a continuation of the sky, with enticing words written here and there in glittering blue, or bold black letters with white sparks dancing through them. Words such as, "Ectasy, Bold, Sexy, Touch me, Lips, Tongue, Sweat, Tears, Body, Need, Want."

The room was lit only by the neon lights, the glittering words, and glowing moons spelled into the top of the counter which waxed and waned from one side to the other. There were also moons on the shelves behind the counter, to give the server enough light to see what they were selling.

"Look" Ginny said quietly as she pulled out her wand and said, "El Cielo", pointing it to the ceiling. "It's my keyword for the main lighting spell". A thin spiral of light wound its way through the ceiling and walls until it lit everything very dimly, just enough to see people, but not their exact features. It cast shadows on everything, the perfect lighting for a club.

Stars began to glow with more intensity and then dim as first one constellation, and then another began to shed more light. Various squares and planets lit up, only one or two at a time. It was all random, but the changes proceeded slowly, so as not to make the people dancing feel overly dizzy. Luna also saw the words written on the wall light up, only one word at a time, once every ten seconds or so.

"Oh it's perfect!" Luna exclaimed after watching quietly for a few minutes. "I'm nearly in awe." Ginny grinned and hugged her friend tightly, satisfied both with the beauty and sexy feeling of the room and her friends reaction.

"Wait, there's one more…" She said, pulling back. Pointing her wand once again, she said, "Caiga". As she spoke the new password words began to write themselves in the air near the ceiling in silver, white, and pale yellows and oranges like the colors of the moon and the harvest moon. They fell from the ceiling as if they were thin strips of paper, scrolling or fluttering down from the ceiling to the floor all across the room. They were all sorts of different words, "Mirame, Espero, Caes, fall, deep, emotions, touch, kiss, awake, scream, release, passion, sex, love, holdingon, entwined, enchanted, entranced, give, take, noir, noche, ciel, etoiles, hikari, sora, aishiteru…" They went on and on in all sorts of languages, falling from the 'sky'.

Luna smiled softly and stepped down to walk among them, only to gasp when they landed on her skin and trickled down her body, still perfectly readable. She turned to Ginny, smiling, and said gleefully, "We are going to be rich… and I think your plan is going to be a complete success! Do you know they almost tingle, like the smallest rain droplets?"

Ginny just leaned back against the wall and smiled, surveying her work.

_Next Morning on their way outside_:

"Ok, so I don't understand… How did you come up with something like the falling words on your own?" Deirdre asked curiously. While the girl hadn't yet seen the club, Luna had described it to her last night when the girls got together to work in the Library.

"Oh, I didn't. I mean, the idea was mine, but Fred and George put it all together. They're the official backers of this little business. A cut of the earnings will be going to them. They helped me design the lighting and between the three of us I got the word spell to be exactly how I imagined it. They owe me anyway, because lots of their fireworks ideas came from me. I helped them out this winter with designing different things for the new set of products being released this year." Ginny said proudly as she and Deirdre made their way down staircases.

"They took very little convincing, actually. Their friend Lee Jordan went into the family business after he left school, and conveniently that means that he can be our drink supplier. The drinks will be shipped to Hog's Head, because the owner doesn't really give a crap as long as he gets paid a minimal amount for acting as the middle man. That gave Lee a place to deliver to and Luna and myself a place for storage… Oh, and Fred and George helped me set up a system to ensure no one can tell about the club and to keep out people who'd out us from the very start. I would've been totally lost without them." Ginny smiled happily, thinking of the way her brothers had taken her ideas seriously and been actively supportive.

Deirdre whistled, impressed. "Damn. You people really thought of everything. I'm totally impressed. Especially with your brothers, I always thought they were the kind to not really commit. Well, except when it came to their own business…"

"Well, they've always been staunch supporters of Harry, even more than my parents have been for Dumbledore. So when I told them what I hoped my long-term effect would be they were all for it. And they wouldn't have joined the effort had I not been as prepared as I could be." Ginny sighed as she squeezed through the heavy doors of the main entrance. "Aaand, here we go again. Fuck if I don't despise running."

Deirdre laughed out loud at her friend as they took off towards the other end of the lake.

xxxxxxx _Ginny (the older one, the mind watching her memories) knew she should stop here and skip ahead, but she couldn't help but continue watching the morning unfold. It was the first morning she met Macha Emain. Who wouldn't want to experience that twice_. xxxxxxxx

… As Ginny and Deirdre approached the spot where the four students had met yesterday, they saw that there were already three people waiting for them. The two guys from yesterday, and a girl named Macha Emain, a sixth-year Slytherin Ginny knew nearly nothing about. The girl was known for stringing along rich boys, and that was about it aside from the other usual Slytherin stereotypes. Meaning she was wealthy, pureblood, and unlikely to converse with members of other houses.

Macha Emain up close and dressed minimally for exercising was a tall and muscled girl with red-brown hair that looked more red than brown in the early sunlight. She was built willowy, but her muscles were defined, and she moved around dynamically and dramatically as she spoke.

"JESUS Boleyn you brought a fucking Gryffindor with you? And a Weasley? Ugh, if she stays Malfoy will NEVER work out again as long as he lives. He'd never get up at dawn to fly laps, no one on the team can make him work hard enough to break a bloody sweat, and this won't even be an option anymore! And then that lovely waistline of his will outgrow all of his favorite dragonhide trousers. I'll never get to watch his ass wander down the hallway again without wincing!! I'll be stuck watching Zabini! And, no offense love, you're fucking hot and all, but really some variety is necessary in life." Her fluid motions and cultured Irish tones were belied by her coarse and angry words, but no one could say that the girl wasn't attractive. Ginny could see why men hung onto her even if she did seem high-maintenance. The girl's face was built for fury and passion, and her name suited her perfectly.

"If you're done being a drama queen-" Ginny began, but was cut off when the girl directed her intense gaze directly at the redhead.

"No, I'm really not. And you may think I'm kidding, but I'm dead serious. Why the fuck should I have to put up with you every single bloody morning! It's a complication no one needs, because to me you sure as hell aren't worth it." The girl growled as she stepped towards the youngest Weasley.

Deirdre was frowning, but standing back to see how things progressed. Macha would never accept Ginny at the morning practices unless Ginny, or someone Macha had to respect, gave her a reason. Deirdre herself was only tolerated, not necessarily liked, by the seventh-year Slytherins who appeared occasionally in the mornings. Thomas, who at this point simply looked amused, was staying out of it, which both Deirdre and Ginny took as a sign that he wanted Ginny to stick around. In Ginny's experience, when a Slytherin wanted to bitch about something, they just let loose and complained outright.

Meanwhile, Macha continued advancing on the shorter girl, raising one arm threateningly, as though to grab Ginny and pull her closer. Blaise, who until now had looked as if he wasn't paying attention and in fact was, to all outside appearances, asleep on his feet, reached out and grabbed Ginny by the waist before she had a chance to react to the possible assault.

Ginny gasped as she was suddenly snatched and held close to a very wet, but warm and nicely muscled bare chest. The skin felt pleasant against her naked lower back, exposed by her simple outfit of a sports bra and men's shorts. Blaise's arms were wrapped all the way around her waist, and his fingers trailed back and forth a short distance on her bare sides. His arms were unbelievably strong against her body, and she quickly relaxed into him as he began to speak.

"For the love of Merlin, shut up already. Ginny and I are getting tired waiting around like this. We'll both fall asleep soon if you don't give us something to do. She gets sleepy if she stops moving this early in the day, you know." Ginny's body, chilled by the cool air despite the already strong sunlight of the morning, rapidly heated up as she felt Blaise's voice roll through his chest, into her back, and then out of her as she exhaled. He rested his chin on her shoulder and as his body slackened and the constant motion of his fingers slowed she almost laughed, realizing that he was nodding off once again.

"Not to mention the fact that I really don't need to stand here and listen to some preppy dancer come down on me for not being considered acceptable company for a Malfoy when really all you want to do is avoid complicating your own life. If it's really a problem, I'll just… disappear with Blaise whenever he comes by." Ginny added, at first a little snappy, but ending with an innocent tone. She felt Blaise's arms tighten for a second, as if in agreement, before slackening again.

"Mmm." Was the only response she heard from the sleepy guy wrapped around her.

Macha's jaw dropped when she saw a small smile appear on Blaise's face in response to Ginny's words. All the anger drained from her face so quickly that the change was almost laughable. The new look was one that looked almost out of place, until her eyes crinkled with a small smile and Ginny realized she was thinking something along the lines of, "Oh, how cute…". Before she could coo, Macha caught herself and cleared her throat meaningfully.

Blaise exhaled, moaning slightly in protest as he straightened, no longer slouched on the Gryffindor, who had begun to lean back on him, if only to keep the boy upright as he slept. Sliding his arms up slowly to hug her around the shoulders, he leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly on her right cheek before backing away, almost as if to say, "bye for now".

Ginny looked at Macha, who sighed in amused exasperation and looked in turn at Thomas, as if to say, "Well, what can I do but give in?".

"Well? Shall we, _finally_, get started?" The younger Nott inquired dryly.

"Or should Thom and I find some way to occupy our time as Macha continues to indulge in her long windedness while Ginny gets felt up by Blaise as he falls asleep?" Deirdre added, raising her eyebrows. Ginny tilted her head, and was still trying to think through this long list of things when Macha replied.

"Nope, I've just thought of the perfect thing. Oh, and Ginny, Thomas told me all about your Fran from yesterday. We should hang out and trade ideas for other mornings sometime in Hogsmeade… we could chat, pick up a guy or something, it'll be fun." Macha said, smiling wickedly as she turned and headed out away from the lake and the field, where the ground was flatter with less rocks.

"We?**_ A_** guy?" Ginny said to herself as she followed with the others, realizing that it hadn't been a personal vendetta after all. _Hmm, I suppose she was just being sure to protect herself from the older Slytherins. I wonder exactly how rocky the politics are in that house? _She thought to herself.

"Guess I'm not the only Slytherin who knows your reputation." Blaise said, winking at Ginny.

"Hey now, I'm not _that_ bad!" Ginny said with semi-fake indignation.

Deirdre snorted and Thomas added mildly, "I'm pretty sure it's the exact opposite."

"I heard you're actually very, very good." Macha said from the front of the group. "I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't think you could keep up…"

"Oh, she does more than keep up. Or she will when Blaise is done with her…" Thomas added, grinning.

"How do you know it won't be the other way around? She may be done with him in under a month. I thought you said you knew her record?" Deirdre added, laughing.

"Honestly, that's what they all say. Just give the boy time to go to work. I don't think anyone could ever wear through that boy…" Macha said. "Although if anyone could, aside from me, anyway, I'd go to you first, Ginny." The girl's head turned to smirk at the youngest Weasley.

Ginny just groaned at it all, way past having given up protecting her meager amount of dignity. Sensing the beginnings of a pattern, Deirdre nudged her and added quietly with a wide grin, "I can see this is the beginning of a hopefully long and prosperous bunch of friendships." Ginny just gave her a weary look in response as they followed Macha Emain into the large clearing before the castle.

**End Chapter Four**


	5. Night Swim and Warmth

Disclaimer: Not mine. :(

Yay for Harry Potter 7 best book EVER. Now that the tribute is over let's go! Onward!

**Chapter Five- A Night Swim and Warmth**

Ginny and Deirdre, fresh out of the Grand Hall from Lunch and on their way to hunt down Luna, who hadn't appeared in the ten minutes it took the girls to eat, paced through the empty halls as they discussed Ginny's second morning of exposure to the Slytherins.

"You know," Ginny began, "After that first morning I would've guessed that Blaise was the type to be detached from most new people trying to enter his life. Especially ones like me who would complicate things for him, considering what house I'm in and the fact that he has to worry about Malfoy and his crowd 24/7. But he really doesn't give a rat's ass as long as he likes someone, does he? He seemed really flirty and touchy-feely this morning. I'm beginning to suspect that's how he is most of the time. And Thomas seems more like I pictured Blaise to act. Pretty easy going if he can stand you, but aside from that he seems very chill and low-key. Great sense of humor, very dry and sarcastic and knows how to lie low and manage to escape people's notice. I suppose it makes sense looking at them. Blaise looks very flirty and boyish. And he absolutely drips sex appeal.

"Oh, Merlin, I know. I've sort of grown used to it by now. I mean he's fabulous to look at still, but after a few years it's more like I expect him to be sexy each day. And as a Gryffindor, I can't say I spend all my time watching the hot Slytherins. I just don't go for that kind of thing, I suppose." Deirdre laughed. "Looks like you do…"

"Seriously, now! Every motion just makes you want to jump him, it's not my fault. So nice to look at." Ginny stopped talking as she briefly reminisced about the events that had occurred several hours ago.

"Well, not that we regularly hang out or anything, much as I wouldn't mind it since they're all pretty cool and all, but I'd say you've pretty much got it. How did you know Macha was a dancer? She didn't mention it or anything, although it didn't surprise her that you knew. Thom must've told her about Fran and a little about you, because she didn't seem too surprised to see you, despite how angry she was." Deirdre said, pulling open the doors to the library.

Macha had led them through what she called an 'agility day', complete with many different types of squats, jumps, and acrobatics for fun at the end. It was one of the most interesting workouts Ginny had ever had. She could see why Blaise was bored when Macha didn't show up.

"I dunno. I knew because I spent all summer hanging around dancers. I mean, I worked at clubs as a bartender. After about a week, it got really easy to spot the people who were dancers because they'd go crazy on the dance floor. Then when they came to get drinks, I noticed they're either really dramatic and dynamic all the time, or really low-key because they save their energy. And, either way, they can't hide the way they move. Everything's all fluid, like they put their entire bodies into each movement. So it's like just moving their entire body into a different shape when they move, not just moving an arm for a gesture and then turning to talk to someone. I can't really explain it…" Ginny trailed off in frustration. "But anyway, I'm sure she gets the question a lot when she's out partying. Lots of people can tell just looking: other dancers, ex-dancers, people who club a lot, people who date dancers, people who work with or around dancers."

"Interesting. I think I sort of get it. She moves like my old ballroom dance instructor did. I actually used to think they looked a lot alike, so maybe that's why." Deirdre said, shrugging. "Ah, there she is. Why's she all the way in the back. This room takes forever to walk through, and there are plenty of empty tables up front."

"Habit." Luna said, looking up and pulling off her colorful reading glasses.

"What?" Deirdre said, confused.

"Oh, Luna used to get bullied. People used to run around and hide her things. Mainly those students are all people who've left school, or stopped bothering her once Luna and I got really close." Ginny said.

"So I'd find the table the farthest away from the ones people would sit in as they entered the library. And I'd wear these glasses, which I don't really need, as a disguise. That was fun! Sometimes I wear them outside of here for fun, though. I think that ruined the disguise…" Luna said ponderously.

"Well did you get even at least?" Deirdre said, beginning to feel angry on behalf of the quiet, mysterious, but sweet girl.

"No, of course not. I believe in forgiveness, karma, and nonviolence. Most of the time, anyway. Sometimes the mifflesniggers tell me my use of violence is sanctioned, in instances where interference is needed to keep the balance." Luna said dismissively. Deirdre, blinking and then dismissing this, turned to Ginny disbelievingly as Luna continued reading, knowing that Ginny would never let anyone who bullied Luna get away with it, and saw the girl mouthing and gesturing. _Oh, hell yes. It was painful, too._

Deirdre smiled and sat down as Luna started humming to herself. Luna's oddities, Deirdre had learned in the past few days, were easy to pass over. Not to mention the fact that usually, if she listened, Luna would say something brilliant, insightful, or infinitely helpful in the midst of her ramblings. Being around her was just soothing, because somehow Deirdre knew that she was around someone who was capable of saying exactly what she needed to hear to fix any problems that could come around. Taking a good long look as the two girls seated in front of her, Deirdre Boleyn was able to fully comprehend how Ginny's determination to change everything about the world around her had manifested. Especially when you considered how formidable Ginny on her own was, the fact that she had pretty much already faced the worst that could happen to her for succeeding or failing (being involved in a showdown with Death Eaters during her fourth year), and taking into account the fact that her brother and his two best friends were only a year older than her, but able to survive and succeed at more than Aurors themselves were capable of. Couple that with Luna's ability to handle Ginny's scatterbrained moments and her own brilliant mind...

"And suddenly, everything seems so easy, doesn't it?" Luna inquired suddenly, breaking the silence.

"I know… it all seems so easy and simple when you compare it to the absolute worst. I can only imagine how dumb Ginny felt when she realized she could've started all this last year!" Deirdre said with a laugh. "Wait… How did you-?"

"Oh, your face said it all." Luna replied sweetly, sun shining and reflecting off of her large silver eyes.

………….. And the pensieve skipped again……

Friday, Ginny was still working out with the group of Slytherins and Deirdre, but so far no sign of Malfoy. However, she found herself genuinely liking both Thom and Macha. Nealry as much as she liked Deirdre. And Blaise Zabini… well it wasn't that she genuinely liked him, it was more like she didn't have to worry about liking him or not. He was very similar to her, albeit masculine, wealthier, and therefore a little more selfish and lazy. But all in all, she found being with him comfortable. She didn't worry about saying the wrong thing, being too clever or clinging too tightly to his wet body. Mentally, there was nothing to worry about, because on the surface their personalities tended to run parallel to each other.

Although she was worried about both having the club flawless for when it opened, ensuring all of the supplies came in, and also managing to fill it with all four houses, the strenuous morning workouts kept her loose. Of course they also kept her tired, once she piled on homework and club upkeep at night, but it was worth it.

Tonight, however, Ginny found herself really tense. Not even stressed, just really worn-down. It had been a harrowing potions class, emotions running high thanks to some Slytherins getting pranked by a younger Gryffindor. She also felt that she hadn't done any real work all week. Making friends with the Slytherins wasn't going to go anywhere until Malfoy showed up and she determined whether or not he would ever consider going to a nightclub opened by a Gryffindor, or shun it. Shunning it would inevitably lead the other older Slytherins to avoid it out of fear of his familial ties to the Death Eater movement. Still, she'd decided, now that she was a part of the morning work-out group, it would be the easiest way to reach Malfoy.

Stuck picturing all her failed ideas if Malfoy's temperament or childhood ideals made it all a waste of time, she decided to do something that would use up a lot of her pent-up energy. Like going for a night swim or walk. She had been considering flying, but the brooms were locked up for the night. And a run was out of the question. Her muscles were still sore from this morning. She didn't want to lead on any Gryffindor boys, either, so flirting and blowing off steam with a little snogging would be a bad move.

Tonight all three of the girls had been working on some heavy-duty homework for the day after tomorrow in an attempt to free up a few hours straight with which to work tomorrow. Therefore, they hadn't gone to the club to work on the books or check on the supplies or stock the back room or anything. Everything was basically completed in the actual club anyway and the stocking would really only take a few more hours… once all the stuff came in. Now, all Ginny had to do was finish cementing her relationships with the Slytherins and get close enough to the older ones to issue Malfoy an invite and make him curious enough to go.

So, a little after eleven, once everyone had pretty much gone to bed, Ginny closed up her books and took them back to her room. Everyone was asleep, except for Deirdre, who was just coming in from the bathroom.

"Hey, D." Ginny said softly, "I'm heading out for a swim or something. I'm a little antsy." Deirdre waved tiredly as she crawled into bed after setting her wizard's alarm. It was silent, but shot annoying sparks into the skin covered by her watch. It was a great way to get up without the roommates knowing.

Ginny headed out, using a myriad of secret passageways, carefully keeping ears open and setting minor detection spells to warn her to duck and hide if Filch was headed near her. She didn't know any to detect his cat, but a secret passageway was always close enough on hand to assist her in time if the cat spotted her. Peeves was still avoiding her out of fear because of an encounter the other night.

Ginny groaned as she trotted out an old unused servant's door into a cellar that led up to a grass trap-door and only opened from the inside, her muscles protesting the climb up to fresh air. Once outside she propped open the door an inch using a plank she had placed there last year. She stripped off her large t-shirt, leaving her in what remained of the sleeping ensemble she had changed into before departing. Walking through the tepid summer night air in only a sports bra and small men's boxers wasn't too bad… until she realized it was pretty windy tonight. Her head still ached from the confined feeling all of the tension from the second half of the day had given her… amazing how days could suddenly turn around and make you feel as if you accomplished nothing in hours, if not weeks.

She arrived at the lake and jumped in, choosing to breaststroke through the water pensively.

If this were last year she'd just have flirted with some nice guy, maybe sat with him at a meal and then study with him and hook up a bit later on. Alas, this wasn't last year and she couldn't afford distractions. Although if she had to choose any specific distraction it would absolutely be Blaise Zabini.

She shook her head, smiling. Ginny wasn't one for regularly hooking up with no relationship normally. However, for Blaise Zabini she would make an exception. He had the electric animal magnetism about him that went so far beyond charm… it would maybe make it worth it. She certainly wouldn't be able to do it once and then stop, not if he kissed anything like stroked her when he fell asleep wrapped around her each morning.

Despite her record, Ginny liked being in relationships, not messing around with guys who don't commit emotionally. Even when she did hook up usually she stuck around with the guy long enough to know they could never have a relationship. Most of the guys she had dated were used to long relationships, meaningful ones. She had heard from other girls that the boys were great boyfriends, aside from three Ravenclaws that had a habit of cheating.

Her problem was that for some reason (other than the infidelity) the relationship wouldn't work. She found flaws in every guy she tried to get with that would bug her until she broke it off. Sometimes the boy would have a habit that constantly reminded her of one of her seven brothers.

'Psh.' She thought, 'Well that's something that would never happen with a guy like Blaise. Note to self: pick someone really really unnaturally sexy when entering next relationship.'

Some other times she and her latest beau just wouldn't match, have some fundamental disagreement in things like fighting Voldemort, or politics. Or they'd simply be incapable of holding an in-depth conversation. On occasion, Ginny thought she expected too much from the guys she dated. Maybe that they be fun and sexy, but also expecting them to support her need to fight Voldemort and express deep thoughts with a mature attitude was just wishing for someone who didn't exist.

The water was chilly, so Ginny switched to the freestyle to keep herself warm and concentrated on nothing but clean strokes for a few minutes. Then she lay and floated on her back for a bit, breathing a bit heavy. The wind had whipped up some waves on the surface that lapped over her. The air sounded like it was roaring almost, what with so many gusts flying about. Ginny thought absentmindedly that it would probably storm tomorrow morning, maybe even just a few hours after this very swim. She thought she heard a splash and immediately straightened, before calming herself and realizing that it was probably a wave on the rocks by the shore or the squid thrashing. Maybe even the mermen from the colony racing each other to the surface, holding a breath of oxygen from the air, and then racing back to their little village. According to Myrtle it was one of their nocturnal sports.

Ginny forced herself to calm down and continued to swim furiously. She narrowed her focus once again to her own body and the water touching it. Then on just her body, until she could almost not feel the water, then her arms and legs in particular. Smaller, smaller, narrower, concentrate on the feeling in just the body. WHAT THE FU-

"AAAUUHHHGGGHH!" Ginny gave an absurd half squeal half cry that ended in her taking a small waveful of lake water straight in the eyes and mouth. Someone had grabbed her arm mid-stroke. She reeled back to begin thrashing about, eyes closed tight from the sudden interference from the water.

"Stop, Weasley, Ginny! Jesus, relax!" Thomas Nott's voice gasped as he let go and splashing noised ensued as though he was back up in the water. She changed the course of both her arms, which were swinging forward threateningly, to her eyes to rub them before opening.

"Bollocks! Oops, sorry Nott." She said after rubbing her eyes a bit. "Shocked me a bit, is all. Scared the bloody fuck right out of me actually, wanker. Couldn't have tried to bleedin' holler at me, could you've?" She replied irritably as she recovered from the sudden incident. "Do you do this often? Swim alone? At this hour of the night? Couldn't this be dangerous?"

"Interesting, that you manage to interrogate me when I am the one who went after you to get YOUR attention." Nott answered, grinning a smile that was less shy than it had been in the daylight. "Nice way of sliding the conversation past the point where I could have buggered you about your language or strangely bird-like caw of horror. And I'm not talking sparrows here, more like vultures startled away from a feast." He managed to slide in a little humor at her expense anyway. "I'm impressed. Even this late at night and surprised out of your bladder, you manage to try to force me to defend being here in spite of the fact that it's USUAL for me to skulk around the lake at all hours of the night, and UNUSUAL for you." He snorted to himself, treading water and looking at her.

"Ah, how would I guess that it happens that often though?" She answered, pleasantly surprised by his wit, but lack of argumentative tone.

"I'm not as trusting as Macha, Gryffie." Nott's response threw her off a bit, since Macha's vibe was always way more defensive than Nott's. "You're too observant and you embrace character details like Dumbledore embraces candy. I'm sure you can at least remember my well-known habits by now" He paused for a second, breathing evenly. He was quite a loud breather, Ginny noticed idly as she waited for him to continue. He was still floating, and she was getting a bit tired of constantly treading. "Yes I do this often, although it wasn't originally by choice. Normally I'm swimming alone. Obviously, at this hour of the night since I'm here, although I have come out later depending on the evening. And as for dangerous no, not really, as you have no doubt inferred. The mermen are up and about at night, and tend to keep the little and annoying creatures occupied. They respect normal witches and wizards that take the time to actually swim, and would no doubt be shamed if a small water creature harmed a swimming human on their watch. And the squid sleeps at night, which every student knows." He rolled over in the water, ducking his head under. Then he came up and shook his head, tossing droplets around. "By the way, you've the mouth of a dragon handler… which actually makes sense considering your older brother's occupation." He finished up goofily. She grimaced ruefully. Honestly, what with growing up with so many brothers, how were people always surprised when she used a few foul-mouthed phrases?

"Hah, yeah, so I've heard at the numerous moments I've embarrassed myself with it." She answered. "And you know all the questions to my answers already. Hmm, you don't happen to be here with a friend, do you?" She asked, and got a sly smile in response. She triumphantly continued.

"Well that's a yes. I'd say they aren't in the water, because they'd have scared me by now, and I definitely can't hear them. I'd also guess that it isn't a lady friend… you don't seem like you're in a relationship right now. Actually I can't even begin to guess what kind of a girl you'd date, odd… you're a real mystery, Mr. Nott. Ugh, fuck this. I hate tests… Too late to be thinking like a psycho Slytherin… hmm I guess this doesn't seem like the kind of thing anyone would want to be here doing, more like a habit you can't escape at this point, and you're confident so you aren't alone. So, you prolly come out here with the same person every night." She yawned, now cold again, which disrupted the stream of thought. Not that she had really been concentrating on following it up. "I hope you're impressed with my skills of deduction because now I'm going back. I've been out here thirty minutes I think."

"Haha. You expect too much from me, Weasley. It was more of a game then a test. I don't trust my ability to judge the scamming ability of an artist like you. The tiredness could all be an act and next thing I know I'd be thinking you're only a little bit sly and brill, as opposed to a Gryffie prodigy that should be in our little snake-hut." Thomas said, and his accent became a little thicker, sounding a lot more like he lived on the streets of London. **A/N: I have no idea what that would sound like or what words he would use, so just go with it, please?? Thanks! Just fill in the blank in your imagination with a really unsophisticated british accent, please.**

His playful words made her smile. He was a lot more fun than she'd originally thought. Still not her type, but pretty cool. He was intelligent, didn't seem as though he shared information, and a good enough friend and inner softie to get dragged outside in the middle of a night by a friend.

"Ah, flattery. I could live off it. Night." She swam back to the shore thinking with hope of the fact that she had practically made friends with a Slytherin who actually had a heart. It encouraged her dreams of making the club work.

She reach the point where she could stand and walked out of the churning lake, freezing at a rapid rate the farther out in the air she got. She clambered, completely without grace, over the smaller rocks at the part of the shore she had reached first. It was between Hagrid's hut and the castle, but still a fair walk back to the castle and the carelessly dropped shirt. Teeth chattering, she slid down the other side of the rocks, scraping the side of her leg, but not much caring.

Until she stepped on a small pebble with a pointy edge. Somehow it was more painful than the scrape on her arm. She almost growled at the mixture of the annoying air, which was whipping her hair into her face, and the annoying ground with pointy rocks she couldn't see. The moist tepid warmth she had felt while leaving the castle didn't have a chance to warm her up because the wind kept blowing her soaked body around, getting in the way. Upon stepping on a second pebble she bit her lip to keep from shrieking, but then… she stepped directly onto another, sharpened beyond belief, hidden in the grass.

"Ooooouuch!" She hissed. "Goddamn fuck it and crap on clouds! Shitty shit shit shit SHIT that bloody well fucking hurt like a viking up a bleedin' virgin! I fucking _hate_ pebbles." Just as the frustration was draining thanks to her little outburst, she heard someone crack up, as though they had been holding it in. She turned from the direction of the school, looking towards the laughter and a little farther down the lake coastline.

"I'm sure it was aiming for you." A sexy voice said softly at the end of his laughing, which had died to a silky chuckle, "You're shaking, though, and not particularly graceful thanks to the water. Even if it wasn't, they can't help you falling all over them. Don't take it out on the poor souls, they're just doing their jobs, sitting on the ground being prickly bastards. I can relate to an occupation like that, you know." Zabini was stretched out on the ground, sprawled actually, staring upward, one knee in the air. The wind was streaming around him, not touching him, as if redistributed away from him. "Here, luv, what's your name? No, let me guess. A Gryffindor with a mouth like her brothers', so it must be my early morning pillow."

"How can you stand this damn cold, Zabini?" She asked, teeth chattering a bit as she eased toward him. He ignored her question.

"I should've guessed when I saw you're body coming over the rocks, you know. You've got great legs and an even better ass. So nice having a full moon here to illuminate the finer things in life."

Ginny just stared for a second. Her mind dismissed the teasing, moving on to realize '_Oh yes, only Zabini would offhandedly want to drag a friend out here in the middle of the night and then be too lazy to actually get in the water but later decide they'd do it regularly for a few years_'. As she reached him she discovered the answer to her earlier question, and huddled down in a squat near him.

"A windbreaker spell!" She said to Blaize, who was reclining comfortably with his hands behind his head. A whole triangle of earth was in the lee of the spell, undisturbed by the blowing winds, as if there was a wall next to him.

"Mmm, yes. I'm very comfortable. I'm also a creature of habit who isn't used to distractions out here. This's the only time when I'm not being kept constantly amused, and thus not bored, which I don't use to sleep."

"-So, what you really mean is it's the only time all day you take to think?" She interrupted him, laughing a bit. He sighed, almost annoyed, and continued.

"So, if you'll kindly take yourself and your sexy little scantily clad soaking wet body elsewhere, I would maybe even appreciate it." He said. "And if anyone finds out I said that, my European reputation as the reincarnation of Eros would be lost forever. I'm actually feeling a bit ashamed now… But I still want you to keep walking, Gryffie-whore." The name almost stung, but it was said with a touch of affection that made all the difference. It also sent out a clear message that he was serious about getting some 'alone time'. Ginny shivered once more in a particularly strong gust, and promptly dismissed the thought that maybe she should just keep going towards the castle. Who gave a shit what he wanted. She was fucking FREEZING out here.

"I wish I could but your body is just too irresistable, I'm drawn to you like a magnet... and I'll simply collapse in this _blistering_ wind-" Blaise snorted at her exaggeration, "-before I reach the school. So, come ON Zabini. Please? Help a shivering damsel out."

"Riight." Came the low response. He was dressed in a t-shirt and nondescript pants that she couldn't recognize. His face remained towards the sky, without revealing anything. She continued on, adamant.

"And then you'll have no one to sleep on before morning workouts because I'll have died from Frostbite…" She wheedled. His eyes were raking her body. Was he coming around?

"Except for all the other people there." He responded smoothly, sitting up on his elbows, hair falling across his face as she leaned over him. She noticed that he wasn't complaining about getting dripped on.

"Ok, well I don't actually have any incentive. So, I think I'll just take my life in my hands here!" And with that, she tumbled beside him swiftly, flat on the ground, looking up. They were about a foot apart, since even she wasn't that confident in the fact that he wouldn't get pissed off about her refusal to leave. Ginny wasn't quite all the way in the spell, however, and the side not near Blaise was still being bothered by the air whistling round them. Her body shivered once, twice, from the odd sensation of only partially being protected from the air.

Meanwhile her mind was relaxing as seconds passed with no angry or cutting response. She was fairly certain this was the Blaise that appeared in the mornings. There was no one around to change the way he was acting and he had been flirting with her, albeit casually because he was too lazy to get up. Suddenly her tired mind jumped to several bad ideas all at once, too many for even her capable rationality to hold back.

_'Well, he's here and he's hot. I'm cold and he's a flirt. I'm cold and he's another human being with body warmth. He's hot and I really want to jump him right now. Agh, no I can't it might not fit with the plan! I really don't need a random hookup to turn everything awkward! His face looks nice from the side. At night. Under the moonlight. He's still not looking at me, dammit. Ah, I could drool over that jawline all night!'_

"You know… I don't remember inviting you." Blaise said softly, head turning towards her, before she could act on the thoughts. His lips moved, slow and mesmerizing, as Ginny watched. "But I don't really like not making use of something lying so close." He motioned for her to scoot closer and she did. "When you were standing up and talking and bothering me it was one thing, but it really goes against my values to leave a girl sitting next to me in the grass and still shivering, especially dressed like that." He was smiling at her now. He propped himself up and tugged her towards him, curving his body around her. They ended spooned together, but both out of the wind. His body was really warm. Like a furnace. The heat radiated off of him.

"Wow… you're so hot." She murmured, comfortable at last. Her voice sounded low and ragged against the wind.

"Mmm, yeah." He answered into her hair and neck, and she could hear the satisfied smile, "that's what I hear from a lot of people."

"Don't get too many ideas. I mean you're like a furnace. I can feel the heat coming from you." She answered, speaking sternly but smiling, happy now that most of her was warm. Even the air around her was starting to feel tepid again, and not too cool for comfort. "Sorry, I guess you're wet now." He laughed once, shortly, and readjusted his hold to make them a little closer, intertwining one of his legs. She blushed a bit as she realized why.

"I didn't mean it like that, god." Came her soft exasperated sigh, with a bit of an edge at the strain of keeping her voice almost normal. His hand was now, in idle and smooth slow motions going back and forth across her stomach, which was clenched and nervous. It was applying some pressure too, like he was massaging her gently. Each new pass of his hand sent waves of heat coursing through her senses, coating her mind with a seductive and heady weight. His other arm was stretched out on the ground over her head, curved and twirling her hair idly in his fingers.

She breathed, trying to think, but really not wanting to move. It didn't seem like he was doing anything aside from lying with her.

"You really want to get warm? I can feel you, you're still a little chilly." He said, his head leaning against her head, his breath passing just over her shoulder. "And now you've gotten me damp from the lake, so I'm not as comfortable." His one arm stopped playing with the edges of her hair, and drew it all away from her neck. She was just beginning to consider her answer, scared (in a very good way) about what he might mean. But he moved before she even finished her thought.

She felt warmth on the side of her throat. He kissed her there once, leaving his lips there for a few seconds, hand still caressing her in ever-widening circles. Her breath shook, and she didn't say anything. His head pulled back a little. She felt light brushes from his lips on the top curve of her right shoulder. Blaise's arm tightened across her middle, pulled her up and leaned her against him. He grasped her firmly, one arm propping him up from his position as big spoon, the other around her waist.

Ginny was now sitting back against his legs, and he was practically kneeling. The hand on her middle began teasing strokes across her belly, just over her waistband, pausing here and there to run a finger just under the elastic. His other hand was still propping them up, while his lips brushed a trail lightly back up her neck. He blew a little on her ear, at the same time trailing a his fingers down her side and back to her stomach. She shuddered softly and then made a soft sound in the back of her throat when his mouth began to toy with her ear, warmth filling her up completely. His arm came up again and redirected her face gently to the side. Her face turned and he moved, turning her so she fell over him as he fell back against the ground. His arm had shifted to behind her back, and now tightened to clutch her waist to his. She fell forward and caught herself on her arms. Her body was laid directly over him, her chest barely brushing his and her lips just inches from his mouth.

His fingers smoothed an arch across her cheekbone, up and then trailing through some hair, over her ear and her neck. His lips touched hers, lightly, barely. Her mouth hung a little, surprised that he hadn't gone straight for the kiss. Just as she breathed in from surprise he nudged her face that fraction closer with one hand and his strong lips grabbed her.

He kissed like he was building a fire. Possessive and slow, it was still full of passion at first. The intensity built, so gradually that she almost didn't notice it move from a strong kiss, to a really good kiss, to an overwhelming kiss, a very aggressive snog. His hands were on her upper thighs and roaming, clutching her tight to his lower body. By the end her need was so strong his lips and tongue were all Ginny was thinking of. He bit her bottom lip, dove in again, and then one of his hands was on her neck, her jaw and chin and hair, urging her back.

"And now we're both warm." He said smiling, shifting under her a bit as she stifled a groan of pleasure. He rolled them once more and leaned on one elbow over her. He was smug and satisfied, but also checking over her body with hungry eyes, enjoying what he could see.

Ginny smiled to herself as he relaxed onto her. He curled into her as much as possible, head pillowed on her chest. She was so touched that he was willing to take the position slightly exposed to wind, that she ignored it.

"Yeah. Nice to be warm." Even as thoughts of the Plan came back to her, she was still feeling completely relaxed and unwound, as the sexual tension drained to a satisfying warmth. Zabini was better than drugs for unwinding, apparently, and as an added bonus he seemed ruled by simple desires when he was in this mood. The brief interlude would probably have very little affect on her plans. Such a small affect that she was fantasizing about what it would be like to try it again... which WAS a bad idea. No reason to make Zabini think this could be something regular, a new constant.

They lay there for a bit, but Ginny stirred as she felt even Blaise's body begin to cool, and the movement coupled with his weight reminded her of how wiped she was. Blaise woke swiftly, without a sign, grazing her collarbone with his lips before letting her up, seeming to read her mind.

"Night." She remarked, pulling him in for a brief brush of her lips over his before standing up. The wind hit her from her waist up, but didn't bother her as much now.

"Yeah. A good night." Blaise answered, smirking a bit. "Go sleep." She smiled.

"And what else would a girl like me be doing this late in bed?" She answered, teasing.

"Working on whatever you're planning that needs you to get in with the Slytherins." He answered starkly, smiling with his eyes closed at the shock he didn't need to look at her face to see. "Go to sleep, Gin. I'm heading in soon, too."

"Nicknames now… honestly you warm up a guy and suddenly they act like they know you, shortening a name that's already down to two syllables." She smiled, shaking her head, and took a few steps towards the castle.

"Don't underestimate me." He said, fully awake now, and stopping her in her tracks. When she turned back he was standing, canceling the spell with a wave of his wand. She stepped closer again and he reached out, guiding her face by the back of her neck, closer to him, up and in.

Blaise smiled, small and almost evil, and trailed a hand through the edges of her damp hair as she looked at him, eyebrows raised. "You're Gin." He murmured seductively, looking her in the eyes, completely serious, "Like the alcohol. You remind me of alcohol." His gaze went from serious to hungry, intense, very male. Ginny's breath hitched a little at the way he was looking at her, the tone of his voice that even now went straight into her to pool somewhere below her waist.

"So now I'm a beverage. That's just so much better than any old affectionate nickname." She smiled, answering relatively normally, somehow. "I used to practice my bat-bogey hex on my brothers for trying to call me Gin."

Blaise "Hmph-ed" in short and quiet amusement and continued, "There's no use in shortening your name once it's already been shortened. Might was well cut it to G. It's much more meaningful to simply rename you." He gave her a kiss on her cheek, gliding a hand down to the small of her back and then removing it. "I'm going to sleep."

She smiled as he turned and left, then frowned a bit, then tried to do both, pleased and trying to puzzle out how much of her plan he may've stumbled across, or guessed. His earlier comment had disturbed her, since she hadn't exactly left any clues for people to stumble across. She hadn't announced her change of heart to anyone but Luna and Deirdre. Everyone at the school was supposed to think that she was satisfied with her position as the only person who could leak information from the Golden Trio to the rest of the school. Their liaison, who sometimes went along for the fight. The school was supposed to think that was enough, at least until the clever ones thought about the real reason behind her nightclub…

The frown was winning out as her mind went to work. Then, seeing Zabini fire some sparks out at Thomas, who was swimming in anyway, she shrugged and smiled. Not really worth the worries. He knew what he knew. Zabini wasn't exactly the biggest of her problems, although he certainly was a fun one to handle. And since he picked no sides and kept even the fact that he knew things at all, much less _what_ it was he knew, secret no one would hear of his suspicions.

She headed in, finally ready for some deep, deep sleep. And possibly some very creative dreams.

**That's all for now... wow this entire thing was really only two scenes uck... well things are gonna speed up now that I can throw malfoy into the picture. It was difficult, I wanted to get Ginny a little bit established with the group first, to give her some leverage. I dunno I just felt like I had to lead up to him, cause from now on I have to get things right or for chapters and chapters after this it could all get messed up... I'm still ripping out my hair about how to get harry to really confront or meet draco... just in the club? or will he begin to work out in the mornings?**

**Hehe.. stayed tuned to find out? Luv ya all! Review if you feel like it (no pressure, but I do love seeing them).**


	6. Meet Danny Moon

**Disclaimer: not mine. Poo.**

**Warning: This story was originally listed as an HP/DM (or harry/draco) fic. I had a question about this in a review. So if you don't like slash, you may not want to go much farther. Draco and Harry will have a relationship eventually. It just so happens that I think it's more conceivable to that one to develop a lot more slowly than Ginny and Blaise's.**

**Chapter Six: Meet Danny Moon**

Ginny took the next morning off, choosing instead to go flying with the insane group that got up early to circle the castle. Each Saturday they held races and different relay games that were fun, but didn't require one to be an amazingly skilled or speedy flyer to win. Ginny messed around, saw a few Quidditch players from the other school teams, and was on a relay team with some Hufflepuffs in the year below her. The two girls were fun, and the lone boy was only a second-year, and painfully shy at first, but also painfully hyper once he got over it. About an hour after dawn, Ginny left the two girls with their friends, landing near the broom-shed with the young boy.

"It was really fun flying with you, Danny!" She said brightly, to try and boost his self-esteem a little. "You're such a cutie. You come and see me and my friends anytime, kid, seriously, if you ever need anything. I'd love to chat you up to the girls, too. You're a much cooler guy than that git Roger from Ravenclaw. Poor Melanie really just needs some other guy to chat her up a bit…" Ginny said off-handedly, watching Danny (who happened to be an adorable little boy, all pale and red-cheeked with the cold) whose cold-reddened ears paled as she spoke. He twisted around, embarrassed. He really was a damn cute little thing, lots of energy. She had seen him ghosting around the table where she tutored his crush in the library on Saturdays. Melanie was currently the object of a rather annoying and nasty Ravenclaw boy's affections as well, but Ginny much preferred this kid.

"I can't!" He said desperately. "I can't talk ta girls! She's too cute, I just stare and stare. Or else I do somethin' stupid. I'm always wreakin' havoc. Me mum tells me to stop hurtlin' through my life cause I keep runnin' over people and inanimate objects, but I can't help it! I feel normal enough… what's calm supposed to feel like anyway? Borin', that's what!" He said, nearly bouncing as he walked alongside her.

"But Danny-boy you talked to me and those girls okay." She said, nudging him. "Susie and June are absolutely girls and once you started talking nothing could make you stop. You're the funniest little second-year I've ever chatted with, let me tell you. Some of those Gryffindor ones can be just too much!" He did a cartwheel in joy and then returned to walking with her gleeful but adamant, childishly but charmingly stubborn.

"But Gin-_ny_ you aren't just a girl! You're like… like a girl who talks like a guy or something. You're too old for me anyhow!" He turned his head from her and then cracked up at himself. Ginny snorted at his description. "And Susie and June are fun! Even if those people do make fun of Susie's chubbiness, she feeds me! And brings me cookies back all the time! She's the best! And June laughs at all my jokes. They're brilliant. They don't count either. They aren't cute, they're my Hufflepuff sisters." He blabbed on, ending with triumph as though the final sentence was a fact set in stone. And for a loyal Hufflepuff, perhaps it was. "I wouldn't mind if you were a cousin or something." He looked down, embarrassed and whispering.

"Why yes, I don't think I'd mind either. That would be a wonderful thing for me to tell Melanie when I help her with her potions homework this afternoon. Maybe she'll even thank you for me." Ginny winked at him when he looked at her, the hope plain in his eyes.

"Huh?" He said, "Why?"

"Well, you've run me down, bouncing around me like you do, so now I can go nap for another hour and be awake in time to help the poor girl." Ginny grinned and yanked his hat off, teasing the poor kid. She ran off with it, making him chase her all the way to the door.

He slowed upon reaching the door, where she was waiting, grinning smugly. "No fair. You're legs are like stilts." She grinned at the cute boy with his little Welsh accent and ruffled his hair.

"Run off now so I can go collapse in peace. Honestly, making me run away with your hat like that. Second-years… crazy, the lot of them." She laughed as he gasped in indignation, hollering and chasing her until Sprout caught him for a gentle scolding and Ginny escaped.

By the time she got back to her dorm room she was run-down. Deirdre was gone, probably with the Slytherin morning group, and her other two roommates were still abed. Ginny laid a blanket over her made-up bed and collapsed onto it for another hour or two of good rest.

…………….

Luna caught up with her for a late breakfast that very day.

"I went flying today! It was fabulous, I missed the air so much!" Ginny said, content and well-rested, but famished. They were seated at the Ravenclaw table, as Deirdre was still missing. Ginny had slept right through the girl's shower, waking up in time to see the girl's back leaving their room.

Luna smiled, "How nice." Susie and June walked by, laughing, just then. Susie, a plump but entirely good-natured girl who walked lightly and spoke confidently, pointed out Ginny to her friend. June, who looked solemn and plain until she laughed, waved for the both of them. June's laughs were by far the funniest and weirdest Ginny had ever heard. The girl also had a fabulous sense of humor.

"Oh I love them. So kind. Susie used to bring me food from the kitchens when I was looking for my lost things." Luna said, gazing fondly at the ceiling of the great hall. "She's a half-blood, you know, and raised to cook by her mother, a muggle chef. She told me that June was a muggle and lived off her cooking first year. Their personalities balance well." Luna finished her short story and returned to her food.

"Oh, and there's this cute little boy Danny! If I have anything to say about it he'll be holding hands with Melanie by the end of next week, if not sooner. I have no doubt Melanie will make her decision quick and final once she realizes she gets to choose between two boys." Ginny smiled, giving only the bare minimum details-wise, before scarfing down the breakfast before her. "I've got a few questions to finish answering before I tutor her and the next three who've already bugged me about helping them. So I'm off. Hey, keep an eye out for Deirdre, will you? I haven't seen her at all. Don't even know if the girl ate…" Ginny shrugged and whirled, pacing off decidedly, red hair whirling. The light wispy strands which always escaped her ponytails were floating around her face, sticking to her mouth annoyingly.

Her mind was focused on Danny, Melanie, her schoolwork, remembering the other kids she'd offered to help, and their schoolwork all at once as she made her way through some shortcuts to reach her books in the Gryffindor common room. Thus, it was not surprising that she ran right into someone. She had just popped out from behind a tapestry onto a platform that connected to one of the moving staircases, when she found herself tripping over Harry Potter.

"What the-!" Came the surprised male voice as she popped out of the tapestry, nearly on top of him, as he was passing it by on his way upward. He caught her in one arm and the other shot out towards the ground as they continued towards the stone floor. Suddenly a small bang echoed through the small side-corridor which led to their platform as they were propelled back up, in a slam of harsh air. Ginny and Harry grabbed at each other, and Ginny shoved off from the wall they were heading towards before any damage was done to heads or elbows.

"Whew." She said in relief. "Damn fine show, Potter. Absolutely wicked reflexes… and I thought mine were impressive. Crazy ride we were in for there, though. Good thing we didn't shoot towards that staircase to our right and tumble down."

Harry Potter leaned up next to her, back to the wall, sighing in relief as well, although a frown still wrinkled his forehead, stress lines showing near his eyes. "Thanks. And, yes, I am aware of that. You know it isn't intentional, Ginny. God, I just do what anyone would do, which is, in this case, thinking about how very much I didn't want to smash into the stone floor. Except magic keeps popping out. Each time I think, 'if my wand were out I would want this to happen' and no spell comes to mind, but something still happens." Ginny looked at her friend in sympathy. His magic had been 'popping', as she liked to call it, all over the place. He had been very careful, and the ban on using magic over the summer had been lifted for students going into seventh year, due to the Death Eater threat, which had helped. Still, poor Harry's magic was simply not right.

"Well, you know that all your intelligent friends like Hermione, myself, and our Order chums have got their own theories. You just give Hermione some more time to observe, tell her everything about it, and I'm sure that between her and Dumbledore the theory will be the truth in under a month. Thanks for the catch, anyhow." Ginny said, trying to get his mind off of it. Dwelling would do him no good. "Going up, I expect? We can walk together. It'll keep off the rabid first-years who haven't learned how nonchalant you are about your status. I'm just frightening enough, I think, if I try and pull one of Mum's glares." She teased as they continued towards their home tower.

Harry Potter had grown into a damn fine Seventh-year. His green eyes were always alert, and they had a nice quality to them that drew people in, a trustworthy and steadfast aspect. You looked a man like Harry in the eyes and knew that you could put your life, as well as an entire wizarding country's in his hands. '_The question is can we put a world into his hands? Poor Harry…_' Ginny thought. For now they were walking in companionable silence, passing several class room, spare and used, including the Seventh-year Transfiguration room, and later on down the hallway, the Seventh-year Ancient Runes classroom.

Harry Potter's hair had settled down in its old age, partially thanks to its new length (which was somewhere just past his ears but not very far down his neck). The look it sported was now tousled, not messy, and it had thickened out pleasantly so that it flopped a little each way on top falling over the scar, or to the side if he had brushed at it. He had a tendency to brush it to the side when thinking. Some pieces of hair were long enough at the side to frame his face unevenly, giving it a casually attractive look. His jaw was strong and his skin was not fair, but not tan, a pleasant in-between.

He would always have the slighter frame, and a height that was about average, but he carried himself with such a strong sense of self and truth, justice, all those things the Golden Boy stood for, that no one could accuse him of being small. There was now meat on all his bones, and he was in shape rather than a rail due to lack of food as a child. Ginny approved, but she also found herself receiving all of the confusing signals she had felt the previous school year. Her original plan, (the one from last year) had been to try and wrangle out of Harry a few good month's worth of dating. She had been confident that with Harry she could have a real relationship, emotionally and intellectually as well as physically. However, her mind kept receiving this odd notion that something was off. That there was a reason it wouldn't work, a reason that she couldn't like him.

Thanks to Harry's 'undercover weeks' with the twins this summer, she had figured it out for herself. In fact she was fairly certain that while Hermione may suspect, neither she nor Ron truly knew.

So, as they walked in companionable silence, Ginny decided to bring up a topic she had broached during the summer, during peaceful fun-loving days which Harry spent disguised in muggle products like hair-dye and contacts.

"So." She started, pausing to look at a portrait of a frog in a crown, "This summer was fun…" She nearly grimaced at her lack of subtlety, but then again, she was short on time. Harry didn't exactly walk down deserted corridors with her often.

"Haha, yeah. Awkward and embarrassing. Always my idea of a good time." Harry said, laughing for real despite his words.

"You know you love it, right? Plus, I don't think there's anything embarrassing about it. So you didn't know how to dance at first, whatever, big deal. I was the same." Ginny poked the frog in the painting. It didn't move.

"Ginny. Some guy I know came up and taught me to dance, and then took me back to bar where you served us up drinks while he flirted with me shamelessly. How is that not embarrassing for me?" He said, wincing at the memory. "The real question is how do you get out of an awkward situation like that if you're too polite to be rude and leave…"

"Well it could have been worse. He was hot." She watched Harry carefully, but he was already continuing with his thought. By the time she looked back the frog was hopping around. Her attention switched to the extravagant frame placed around the portrait of the crowned frog.

"Don't joke, Ginny! Honestly, though, how was I expected to know he was flirting with me? It's not like I was waiting for it, or get it often. I mean, do I look like a flamingly gay club troller to you? No. He didn't either, though, come to think." He crossed his arms. Despite his adamant and masculine nature, there was something in the expressions in his face that did not look nearly as offended as someone like her brother Ron's face would be.

"No, you look like a normal person to me, but then I don't usually waste my time discriminating and trying to determine which way my friend's levitate. You may not know this, growing up with prejudiced muggle relatives, but in our world it isn't frowned upon too much, that kind of thing. Many marriages between witches and wizards last only until the kids are grown. After that point there are plenty of people who find partners of their own sex. Maybe because we live longer than muggles… also wizards are naturally drawn to people that complement their magic. Magic is at the core of everyone's nature, Harry. If your magic sparks better against one person's, then being close to them is a good thing, relationship or no relationship. Especially if there's a war coming and you need to have around you the people that you can trust to help you end it. Don't waste your time wondering about the trivialities and prejudices of society, Harry. When I find myself blinded by them I take a page from Luna's book and live in the moment, following my heart." She finished running her hands over the painting's frame inside of which the frog hopped around his pond. Harry stood there, listening to her. He had figured out a while ago that listening to her not only stopped her from hollering at people to shut up and listen to her 'talk good sense' but also provided him with a completely fresh perspective.

"That's a very relaxed way of thinking about it. Certainly takes the complexity out of the situation…" He answered, smiling and leaning against the wall again. The heel of his foot tapped the wall bracing him as he continued, "That guy reminded me of Cho. I was flattered by the attention, and after all he spent his entire break from the bartending dancing with me when he heard I didn't know how. But… at first I was considering that I was bi, or just that because he looked androgynous I got confused… to be honest it was just as awkward interacting with that guy in the club as it was with Cho. I feel like I wanted to be attracted to both, but maybe they weren't enough. Maybe like my emotions were there, or I liked something about each of them, but the magic wasn't. With Cho, the kiss was nice, you know, new and fun, but I've heard that some people get these sparks… and there just weren't any. No heat, no anything special. With the guy it was all heat and sweat, still nothing different, nothing that stood out." He stopped, turning to stare at Ginny, who was smiling smugly to herself.

"Wait are you saying that I'm gay, Ginny!?" He said loudly, in shock, as her words went on sinking in. "Where'd you even get that idea! I danced with all girls after that!"

"Chill out, Harry." She said, grinning at him and patting him obnoxiously on his head as he ducked, snorting in laughter at her condescension. "What I'm saying is that your magic is so bleeding strong that when you know, you'll really fucking know. You'll really feel sparks, or maybe in your case it'll be more like a volcano erupting, who knows? You're such a confident person… well I can only imagine that the person right for you isn't the kind of person who will cause you to go quiet or that will dull your mind. In my mind, it'll be a person who ignites you." She sighed, arm in arm with him and pacing down the hallway comfortably. "Ah, me, rambling on. Just nevermind all that. I go on and on once I start my little speeches."

Harry stopped, looking at her intently. His eyes were sharp, clear, focused entirely on her. "No you don't. You, Ginny Weasley, are impressive. That's what you are." He continued on, tugging at her a bit, as he changed the conversation away from him. "I used to worry about you last year, probably not as much as I should have, considering that you're the closest thing I've got to a real live female cousin. No offense, but Hermione's my sister. Anyway, you seemed really flighty then, jumping between the houses, between guys, all that nervous energy. It's a miracle Ron doesn't really know how many boyfriends you've had. I think it was a relief for him that you broke up with them all so quickly."

"Yeah, well in his mind if the relationship isn't long, it's not serious. What a smart boy, that Ronniekins." Ginny interjected ruefully. Harry laughed, a short bark, not unlike Sirius' used to be… and then he continued, grave again.

"Honestly Hermione and I were a bit worried. We didn't know if it was just that you had trouble trusting people... After all, the Chamber… it was a long time ago, but if it managed to affect your magic, then who knows? I would have worried more I think, if you hadn't been such a sincerely good person. Do you know, every single person in our house who is younger than you was on a first-name basis with you last year? Still is, I'm sure. Half of them had been tutored by you, most chatted with you in the hallways, and apparently you know half of Hufflepuff house and every single Ravenclaw by name at this point. It's not that you were antisocial… We were just worried that you needed someone to go to that you already trusted but, then again, you proved that theory wrong with Luna." Ginny sat there, respecting what he had to say. She knew that Harry worried about her, especially after the incident in the Ministry which ended with Sirius's death. Plus, Harry would always have the right to talk with her about the Chamber. He was the only person she had shared the changes in her magic with, aside from Luna.

As a side effect from nearly having all of her magic drained out of her, having to sustain her life on minimal amounts during her time in the actual Chamber, and having to replenish it constantly since Tom was draining all of it throughout her first year, her magic had adapted. Her magical reserves were nearly twice the size of the average witch's and wizard's. She regained her magic more quickly than others did, as well, if she was forced to use such a large quantity that she felt drained. She found herself feeling a little choked up, thinking about Hermione and Harry looking out for her last year, the way she had wanted someone to do first year. Her heart felt warm and a spark spat unbidden from her wand. Harry continued, with a faint smile, like a brother who hasn't quite figured out what his sister is planning, but doesn't mind being kept in the dark.

"You know… it's so odd, but I've had this suspicion that you are intent on making a statement somehow. Changing something around Hogwarts, maybe. Lord knows you'd be the one to do it. You seem very driven lately, and obviously I know what you're ultimately for, politically, but you seem to have picked a specific cause to get all fired up about. No more flighty nervous energy. I'm at an absolute loss as to what you could be planning. Very mysterious, you are, Ms. Weasley. Do be sure and include me. I'm going to need someone around who knows how to have fun while trying to take out a Dark Lord."

They kept up their slow walking pace, stopping every few paintings to look around at which people were visiting different portraits. Just as Ginny was backing up her idea to conquer the Dark Lord armed with naught but a muggle SuperSoaker, a mini-sized Nerf ball, and a Jack Sparrow action-figure, "But it'll be one of the _whistling _mini Nerf balls!" A now-familiar Slytherin turned a corner, pausing by the door of the first room in the hall, the Ancient Runes room for Seventh-years.

"Zabini." Ginny said, the greeting echoing down the hall. For a second she felt almost too cheerful to see him, but she was relieved to find that she still didn't feel awkward about the night before. Harry looked at her, his amused look from her silly arguments gone, only surprise remaining.

"And now the Slytherin house… you live a tangled web of friendship, Ginny. You'd better know what you're doing. Have you forgotten who you're walking with? I doubt he'll greet you back." Came a murmur from her friend, who was walking more stiffly now, his back held proud, but resigned as though he was walking towards an enemy that need not be an enemy. Ginny rolled her eyes.

Indeed, the figure hadn't acknowledged the Gryffindors at all. As they drew closer, they saw that Blaise Zabini was tugging uselessly at the locked door. They came up close enough to speak with him normally and saw that the sleepy-looking young man was now poking at the door with his wand uselessly. One arm was bracing his body, keeping it standing, and his face looked well-rested, albeit bleary-eyed. His hair fell into his eyes, and his clothes were simple shirt over jeans under robe combination. He looked up and saw Ginny and Harry Potter. A dark look crossed his face and he started towards them.

"You. This is your fault." Harry stopped, hand over his wand, startled by the dark look and incomprehensible words. Ginny kept going, wand stowed away, hands out.

"What is?" She asked harmlessly.

"You-!" Blaise was cut off by a yawn, which wrecked his 'evil' look. "Dammit Gin, I got out there this morning and I see you're not there so I decide, crap, if she's sleeping why the hell should I be up this morning? So I go float in the water, too lazy to go back to the castle, but not really awake. And then I get out and they're all working hard so I feel like I've wasted my entire morning. And so I try and sleep under that tree you showed me, the one you said was comfortable, and I was on a ROOT! Now my back hurts and I'm tired and cranky and this damn door is locked and I can't get in. So fuck you, I'm done. You're nothing but a saucy minx who brings bad luck. Just like any other drink, I'm enjoying myself one minute and the next I realize that you've screwed me over because you've blown my entire morning to chunks." He spoke this all carefully and darkly, rubbing his temples all the while. "And I can't get the damn door open because I haven't had my morning espresso. Pathetic, but I collapsed into a fitful catnap in my room the final twenty minutes of breakfast."

"Aren't you skipping about a thirty-minute chunk of time somewhere in that story?" Ginny inquired innocently, highly amused at the boy's self-centeredness. She hadn't yet determined how much was façade and how much was actually the truth.

"Well obviously I showered after the lake, and then dried and threw on clothes. Much as you'd like to see me wandering the halls naked," and at this he glanced a second time at Harry, "and yes until proven otherwise I'll simply refer to both of you with that comment. After all my sex appeal doesn't discriminate when it affects people… Ugh, Ginny open the fucking door for me will you? I need a book from inside." Blaise stepped away and Ginny shrugged.

"Well if alohomora didn't work I know one thing I can try… give me a minute boys, this is a Fred and George secret that's not entirely legal." Blaise raised his eyebrows, impressed, and stepped away, yawning once again.

Harry was looking utterly lost at this point. Ginny tugged a few thin pieces of metal from a pouch in her pocket and began going to town on the door. It was open in under a minute, swinging free.

"Ginny, what are you doing?" Harry asked as the door clicked free. He looked confused and a little suspicious, also like his patience was reaching its long limits.

"Aiding and abetting, most likely. Why?" She asked. "You heard him ask me to open it yourself and surely you know how muggle thieves pick locks…"

"Actually, love, he can hear you just fine, but my words came out all slurred as though I was drunk or too tired to speak coherently. Here, I'll take it off." Blaise said, shrugging and opening his eyes all the way as he performed a counter-charm to the one he had cast without their notice earlier. "Honestly what did you expect. As if I'd talk to you like normal when he's here. Too dangerous. And now, Weasley, having thoroughly made use of your skills and without repaying you in any way, I take my leave." He said, somewhat snidely with a small aristocratic feel. Zabini was a little more distant and using a narcissistic attitude rather than a 'share and delight in my sexiness' attitude. Ginny found that it made all the difference, giving him back a typical Slytherin personality.

"Wait, so he was talking real words? What'd he say?" Harry asked Ginny. Zabini, meanwhile, crossed the room to a couch that was set up off to the side along with three other comfy armchairs and tables full of books and rune tiles on tables. 'Taking his leave' turned out to be reclining on the couch, book in hand, eyes closed.

"Finally a decent couch that's NOT occupied by a raving pug-bitch." He groaned in delight, thinking in particular of the comfortable couch in the Slytherin common room that had been taken over by Pansy Parkinson that morning. Footsteps echoed in the hallway outside and Ginny and Harry stiffened, glancing at each other, and then the lone Slytherin. Blaise, Ginny noted, merely opened his eyes and made his face look even more full of distaste for his surroundings, another subtle change that spoke volumes.

"Oh, honestly." Ginny said snappishly, spur of the moment, "Zabini you knew very well Harry and I needed this room to use for a private discussion and yet you refuse to leave when all you're here for is a book? One that, if I may say so, you aren't even reading." She huffed in picture perfect Weasley fashion as Harry rolled his eyes in a perfect imitation of Hermione, catching on just in time, and saw Malfoy watching from the doorway, having stopped at the commotion.

Draco was wearing a men's gray designer t-shirt over dark pants made of some sort of hide. Thrown over them was a new robe, cut short in the latest fashion, the length of a hoodie, but left open in the front. His hair was still a striking blond, but it was messed up as though he had run a hand through it. His hair was swept to one side of his face that way, falling forward almost in spikes. It looked casual and attractive. Nice to seem him with his hair not combed sleek and straight out, Ginny noted. He didn't wear it that way often, and yet he wore the style much more comfortably. It did give a softer twist to his face though, something almost feminine in appearance.

"Bothering Slytherins again, Potter? Don't Gryffindors have something better to do? I suppose not, but two on one, that doesn't seem like you, 'Chosen One'." Draco commented, leaning casually on the door frame. His face was suddenly filling with personality, ironic, a little mocking, slightly proud, but mostly challenging. Unlike Harry, Draco's face was thinner and sharper, his entire frame built slim and small, but to about the same height. Draco straightened and made his way over to Blaise, and Ginny noted that the Malfoy heir even walked extravagantly, not with grace. Even taking a few steps across a room, his movements screamed, 'give me attention'. Draco continued before the two could respond.

"Zabini how did you ever get that door open? Once again you manage to get yourself into a locked class room. No one will ever guess how you do it. I know for a fact this room is impervious to the Alohomora, and it doesn't look as though anything was melted." Ginny glanced at Harry, to see how he was taking being nearly ignored by Malfoy. Harry's eyes were following the pale young man's movements as Draco reached the reclining Slytherin and leaned against the backside of another piece of furniture. She sighed, realizing that Harry was obviously not going to be of any help. It was probably better if he didn't try and escalate the situation, anyway.

"Actually, Malfoy, I was the one who opened the door." She answered, taking a step forward. His eyes swept to her, a bit of surprise evident on his face.

"Ginny Weasley. Going places this year, aren't you." The mock was only painful if she took it as degrading. In a way, it was definitely going to be true, and so she ignored Draco's jibe.

"Well I'd like to take credit but since Zabini is the one that tricked me into opening it up for him to use as a private lounge I suppose I'll have to take Harry to some other room." She answered. Malfoy looked at her sharply.

"Isn't it a bit early for that? Honestly, what are you, rabbits?" He was glaring at Ginny.

"Oh please," Harry finally added, "Don't be stupid. Ginny's not exactly my type." He turned and led the way back to the door. Ginny followed and when they reached the exit, he turned back. "Besides, Malfoy, if we wait too long all the good rooms are taken. Why scramble around tonight when we have hours to burn?" He smiled wickedly at the shocked expression on the Slytherin's face and left the room swiftly. Ginny followed, floored, '_that last word almost sounding caressed!'_.

After all, Harry Potter never dabbled in sexual innuendo. Ginny hadn't even known for sure he knew what sexual innuendo meant! She nearly cracked up at the slightly impressed look on Blaise's face at Harry's comment, as though he was concurring.

True to her impressions, as the two left she heard Blaise saying to Malfoy, "You know, that's truly a valid point. I'm living proof, actually, if you really want a first-hand testimony. You've got to snatch a good room fast on a weekend. Most don't have couches this comfortable, either."

………………

"No need to go on Zabini." Malfoy said as he heard the footsteps of the two Gryffindors turn the corner and leave. "I believe you. I don't think anyone would doubt any story that includes you and the word 'sex'." Zabini smiled smugly.

"So charming, Malfoy. You always know just what to say to shut me up and sooth my ruffled narcissistic feathers all at once. Here I was almost feeling guilty for not having a naked girl in here with me. And, you know, Potter was a surprise. I didn't expect a goodie like him to have the brains or experience to figure out something like that. Wonders never cease." Blaise sighed and swiveled up to a sitting position. "Do you need something?"

"Yes." Malfoy said at once. "I have some observations I need to talk through with you, and I wanted to hear about whether you've noticed it as well. It has to do with that younger Weasley, actually. Do you know, she's actually not quite as bad as some of the others. And we're going to need some allies in this school." Blaise frowned.

"Down to business, then." He tossed the book to the side.

"Down to business." Malfoy concurred, sliding into an armchair and shutting the door to the classroom with a wave of his wand.

…………..

"Alright, Harry, I'm almost late for tutoring now. I've got several young second-years counting on me, so I'm off. It was good talking with you. Nostalgic, reminds me of summertime. If you ever need to talk about, well, you know, the only thing we ever seem to talk about, then you know where to find me. Even if its just to get your mind off of Voldemort for a bit." She smiled at him and waved as she leapt onto the staircase leading to her dorm room, already on her way to grab her book bag. "Bye, Harry!"

She reached the library about ten minutes later, just in time to see poor Melanie looking around for her. The young Gryffindor was very slight with dark skin and darker hair. Her face was wide, and her eyes were sky-blue. She talked a lot and she was in general a sweet and cheerful girl. She had a tendency to ignore people unless they spoke to her first, Ginny had noticed. She was friends with all of the other second-years in Gryffindor, but she didn't really know many students outside of her house. Ginny slowed up to catch her breath. As she paused, she saw Danny come out from behind a bookshelf, walking erratically, eyes on Melanie. His movements were absurdly jerky and he had knocked over a book on his way out of the aisle of textbooks. He passed by Melanie, paused and said something short. The young girl looked at him and responded, probably 'hello' or something, and then went back to looking for her tutor.

Ginny stealthily scooted behind a shelf, so that she was hidden from Melanie's view. Peering around the corners and tops of various texts, she saw Melanie scan the entire room impatiently once more, pouting a bit. The girl whirled after only a few seconds, and stared at the closest people. Making her decision split-second she huffed her way over to Danny, the only one who she even came close to knowing.

At this point Ginny had finally crept close enough to hear. It wasn't difficult, since the library was so quiet.

"Hi." Came Melanie's voice, short and a little self-conscious.

"Oh. Um, hi." Danny answered, too quick. Melanie was rocking around on her feet next to him, her version of wringing her hands. Danny was staring at her, face entirely white. His eyes were big and the expression was entirely adorable. He looked at a complete loss.

"You're in my year, right? A Hufflepuff?" Melanie continued in a burst. Danny looked down, checking the colors on his tie, and nodded. "Well, okay then, you probably don't know her… What's your name again?" Melanie's voice got softer and curious.

"Um… Danny." He answered after another pause. His face was now filling with color, and he looked down, wringing his quill in his fingers. "Daniel Moon."

"Oh. Well, I'm Melanie McCleary. I'm looking for someone who was supposed to be here!" She answered, getting a little angry again near the end. Ginny winced, but couldn't bring herself to break them apart.

"Is it that girl you're always here with? The really nice one, always helping kids?" Danny asked. Ginny grinned. The kid was good. "Ginny Weasley, right?"

Melanie looked at him, surprised. "Yeah. She promised to help me out again this year. How'd you remember all the way to last year? Do you know her?" Melanie's interest was peaked, and she sat next to Danny, interested.

"Yeah!" Danny answered, too enthusiastic, his hyperness coming back a bit. "We were flying this morning, it was wicked. I've been using my broom at school all week and this morning I was flying with the Dawn Group and she was on my team. Saturday's game day, apparently." Melanie lit up, hearing that he had already used his broom.

"Wow! You fly with the Dawn Group? That's so cool, no one in Gryffindor wants to get up that early. Roger's the only Ravenclaw I've talked to and he told me he was waiting for this Sunday to try out his nimbus on the pitch. I love flying, but I've no broom. My parents said that I could get one this year, but I want one now!" She pouted, but her excitement was evident. At the site of her cute puppy dog face pouting, Danny blushed and got visibly nervous.

"Well." He said and coughed to clear his throat. "You could. Could, if you want, um, er, you know my broom it really likes girls. Used to them, you know- I've got sisters and cousins and things! I mean, really I lend my broom out all the time. You could use it?" He finished lamely, after messing it all up. Melanie laughed delightedly, however, and immediately hushed herself, glancing around for Madame Pince in short-lived horror.

"Oh, do you really mean that!?" She whispered, glowing in happiness. "Danny, that would be the best! You're so nice! I can't believe you would do that. I don't even know you!"

Danny was grinning now, the widest smile Ginny'd ever seen on his face. "Sure thing. We could go to the Quidditch stands sometime, that way I could watch you fly. I mean, you know, it's safer to have someone there in case… just in case?" He said falteringly. Ginny moved towards them, happy, but also reminding herself that Melanie probably hadn't been lying when she'd told Ginny she was desperate for help with her potion's homework.

"Oh don't worry about your broom. I'm a great flyer! You'll see!" Ginny tapped her on the shoulder. "Oh! Ginny!" Melanie's face went from happy to stern. "You're late. I was waiting. But I met Danny!" Danny's face got an embarrassed, but happy, look when Ginny grinned at him.

"Really? You met Danny Moon? Danny's my favorite second-year! Boy, I mean, of course you're my favorite Melanie. He's the fastest relay racer I've every seen. You should see him balance an egg when he's flying. Faster than me on that one, and I play Quidditch." Before the girl could ask Danny about his flying prowess, Ginny continued. "We really need to get to work though. I'm sorry I was so late, but if you do need the help, I'm open for business now!" Ginny led the girl over to the next table where she and Melanie had worked last year. Melanie waved goodbye to Danny, who grinned back widely. After Melanie had turned to sit, Ginny winked mischievously at Danny, whose red ears and cheeks went white in embarrassment.

"Melanie you cutie, you're just making that Hufflepuff's day! I've never seen a lad so excited about lending out a broom before. And I should know, I grew up with six brothers!" Ginny said innocently as she spread Melanie's work out in front of the two of them. Melanie blushed a little.

"Danny's really cute. I like his hair." She said shyly. She didn't look likely to go on, so Ginny smiled to herself as she asked Melanie to explain the assignment. They were going to be so cute together!

**doneeeeee!! move along now and review, kk? :)**


	7. Tattoos and a HD encounter

Ginny woke up the following day, a Sunday, early as usual. She had gotten quite a good night of rest, and she wanted to see how many of the usual crowd was devoted enough to work out on a Sunday. Not that she could talk, since she technically skipped yesterday.

"You're up." Came Deirdre Boleyn's voice, through the fog in her tired mind. Although Ginny was sitting up in bed, 'awake' wasn't really the word to use. Neither was 'up', come to think.

"You were missing yesterday." Ginny said, her voice barely more than a croak. "I didn't see you at all. Not once."

"You're right. You didn't." Came the response. Hands pulled Ginny out of her bed helpfully, dragging her over to the bathroom and shoving her in, rather unceremoniously.

"Hurry up so we aren't late." A few minutes and a single 'Accio clothes' spell later Ginny exited the washroom, nearly aware, eyes almost fully open.

"Out here." Came her friend's voice from the staircase, soft in order to not wake anyone. Ginny heard footsteps and, grabbing her shoes, she exited the dorm room, but saw no one. She sighed and sat down to put on her shoes, then scampered down the stairs and out the painting.

"So where were- Whoa!! What the—bleeding fucking hell! Is that a tattoo? Boleyn it's LOVELY!" Came Ginny's loud reaction. Deirdre Boleyn, not exactly the rebellious type, had on a sports bra and soffe shorts. She was standing with her back to Ginny and on her lower back, just above her arse, was a muggle tattoo. It was beautifully done, a bird whose wings twisted out, one wing extending out in each direction from her spine. The bird was burning, and smoke twined down, so that the general shape was similar to that of any other 'tramp stamp'. Upon closer inspection Ginny saw that the wings were actually very intricately wound together tongs of flame and twisting orange, red, blue and yellow feathers.

Deirdre turned, grinning. "Yeah, I know. My Uncle is sort of a wild guy, he lives over in America, and he got me a date at this famous place called 'Miami Ink'. He made some excuses to Dumbledore to pull me out of school yesterday and we apparated over and got it done. Normally it wouldn't look this good this soon after, and I'd be bandaged and stuff, but a few spells helped. It's still really sore though".

"I like your choice. Haha, never would've pegged you for a tramp stamp kinda girl, though." Ginny said as the girls headed down together, as usual.

"Yeah, I told the guy what I wanted it to mean, and that I knew where I wanted it, and he was like, 'Oh you want a phoenix, no question'. Then he told me that he'd draw it up, and I should leave and when I got back there it was. Perfect." She grinned and flung her arms around Ginny. "I'm so happy! This is a great day!" Ginny patted her friends arms, a little shocked. Deirdre wasn't exactly a touchy-feely girl.

"So were you there yesterday?" Ginny asked a few minutes later as they neared the door which led outside.

"Yeah, I left about an hour after we stopped. Everyone asked where you were when I showed up alone, and when I told them you weren't there Blaise spotted you in the sky. Your red hair is really noticeable, you know, like a beacon. Anyway we stood there and watched you for a second and then Blaise was all, 'Great. Well, now there's only three of us, so screw this.' He went and pouted in the water for a bit. Thomas wasn't there either yesterday, you see. So Macha and I did some gymnastics and then raced each other a bit. Nothing much, really." Deirdre explained.

The girls ended being the first ones there, and Ginny did some jumping jacks impatiently to keep herself awake while they waited. And waited…. Even longer than normal. About ten minutes later, Ginny was curled up under the tree and Deirdre was leaning on a tree, looking at the clouds, when they finally heard Zabini and Nott getting out of the water. Well, Deirdre heard it. Ginny was totally out by then.

Deirdre raised a hand in greeting, then let it fall back lazily. "God, it's about time. Zabini, are you the one who slowed them up? Where's Macha?"

"Nope, actually. It was the usual. The getting up isn't normally Blaise's problem anyway, it's the staying up. I'm sure you can guess who Macha's dragging behind her up the stairs from the dungeon… he wasn't here at all last week, so she's not pleased." Thom said, smiling mysteriously as if he had enjoyed the morning ruckus.

"Great. And I can't even lay on my back to relax while I wait. My feet are getting tired…" Deirdre said tiredly, shifting from foot to foot.

"Why can't you lie down?" Zabini asked, raising his eyebrows. "You aren't the type to have 'spent the night on your back' this soon into the school year."

"Thank you…?" She answered frowning, unsure if that was a good thing, coming from Zabini. "It's just that I left school yesterday to get this… um. Well, here, just look." She said, turning around. One forearm was bracing her against the tree as she leaned on it, showing them her tattoo.

"Damn." Blaise whistled. "Didn't think you were the type for that, either. It's always the quiet ones… I should've expected it really, coming from a Gryffindor. But, then again, you're a Boleyn, so perhaps that threw me off! If anyone from a family with that much history was going to get a tattoo and not worry about repercussions, it _would_ be a Boleyn." He laughed and reached out a hand, tracing the image without really touching it.

"It's really good artwork. High quality." Thom said quietly, examining it. "Where'd you get it?"

"Miami Ink, it's a shop in America." She answered. Blaise looked impressed.

Nott nodded, "Yeah, I've been there. It's great. One of three tattoo places in America I'd trust. The image looks like it suits you."

"Well, freedom to burn to dust and reform yourself and all that." Deirdre answered softly. "It just seems to suit what I'm trying to achieve before my life becomes, inevitably, threatened." Both the boys frowned at that, disliking such straightforward reminders of the situation that would be at hand upon their graduation days (which for Blaise was an entire year sooner). Nott's face lost its frown as he gazed at her, thoughtful, deep in consideration.

His hand reached out and touched her back, above her tattoo, as he squatted down to look at it. After a second he stood, pulling himself up by bracing his hands on her hips. Her hand glided down the tree, pushing gently as she straightened. Thom kept his grip on her a second too long after standing. Once her back was straight and she was no longer leaning on the tree he took advantage of the nearness. "Nice tramp stamp, by the way." He whispered into her ear, before stepping away, fingers sliding off her hips.

A sharp warning glance passed from Blaise to the other Slytherin, very clearly saying 'Don't get to close, or comfortable. Nothing is that easy.' Nott ignored him. Ginny looked on through slitted eyes and pale lashes, surprised, since she hadn't gotten that kind of vibe from Deirdre and Thom at all. But, they did both seem like private people…

Deirdre licked her lip and scrunched up her face before clearing her expression and turning back around, her mouth dry. "So, you have tattoos then, if you've been there?" She asked, seeing only a look of amusement on Blaise's face.

"Yeah." He answered. "It's a part of the family, getting a tattoo to show that you're tough. My dad and brother got one and then they took me to get one… but I actually liked it, more than they do. It's not just tradition, it's marking myself. My tattoos remind of who I was when I got them."

"That's very proud of you," Came Ginny's voice, sudden and unexpected, from the ground. "Twenty bucks says they're on his back."

"But we've seen his back plenty of times." Deirdre pointed out, and Ginny frowned in confusion.

"Thirty says he's got one that only ladies get to see." Blaise said, grinning. Nott's face stayed calm, smirking slightly.

"Unfair advantage, you use the same locker room for Quidditch and the same prefect's loo. Who would bet when you've probably seen them all?" Ginny said, reaching out a hand to Deirdre, who pulled her up.

"Yes, Weasley, I've got some on my back. I spelled them so that they can go one other place on my body each. It's difficult if they're muggle-made." Nott said, hands laced behind his head. "It's just as painful as getting it the first time was, and the tattoo slowly appears in the other spot and disappears from its first location as you go. After the initial spelling you can cast some minor healing spells on it, pain-relief and all that, so it's not too bad. While I'm at school I usually hide one on my leg, and there's another small enough to put on the bottom of my two feet. That was tricky. I did it over the summer, pretended to break an ankle and stayed lying down for a day or two." Nott continued, reminiscing. "So they're pretty much hidden when I'm here if I go somewhere they can be spotted. As you can imagine, Slytherin's not the best place to advertise muggle art. Oh, and the magical tattoo I got with my brother and dad goes all over." He ended offhandedly.

Ginny listened attentively. He had basically just announced, loud and clear, who he wanted to support, although he hadn't given any clues as to whether it was likely or even possible. Just being caught carrying muggle artwork on your body would probably get you thrown in front of Voldemort for punishment at the least. There was a story about MacNair from the first war having half his back's skin cursed off… And that was, according to Sirius who had overheard it while staking out a site during the first war, only a product of one drunken night. Nott had at least two, and they were deliberate. Ginny's blood quickened in hope, but also chilled in fear for the Slytherin. He was not in a very good position, even if he had sounded as though he had sought it out with purpose and no intention of turning back. Of course those could be idle hopes and dreams talking… who knew with second sons and Slytherins?

"Well, personally, I think I'd like to see these infamous tattoos." Deirdre said as Ginny's attention shifted to Blaise, curious to see his reaction.

His kissable lips were taught, clenched although his face showed nothing otherwise. But from looking at him, from the way he stood to how he was holding his head, she could tell he was very uncomfortable and very angry. 'Did he know and try and ignore it, thinking he and Nott could be friends anyway? Did he not know? Is he uncomfortable with Nott telling us so much? Or does he simply disagree with his friend's choices and conviction?' Blaise looked at her, and his body relaxed so slowly, the change was near invisible. She watched carefully, getting distracted watching his muscles unclench and seeing the gleam of the sun on his dark skin. He grinned and winked, a very inconspicuous wink. She would have thought he'd have an obvious one.

"They better be pretty badass, Mr. Nott. Or I'll be severely disappointed." Deirdre told Nott, smiling. Nott was scanning the water and the area around them carefully. He scooted behind the tree and Deirdre moved to follow.

'Flirt' Ginny was thinking, mind still on Blaise. She rolled her eyes at the sexy creature while Nott was scooting out of view. Smiling she stretched, arms above her head, while Nott turned around. Her eyes were on Blaise as she moved and his eyes flicked over her briefly before he could stop them. 'Ah. Deuce.'

She left their little game, curious to see what Nott's tattoos revealed about his personality.

Her friend breathed in and out, and then there they were. They inked into existence line by line, and then filled with color, but quickly, not slowly. A lynx was laying across the top of Nott's back. It was more centered, actually, smaller but vivid, about twice as long as the width of his neck. The tattoo was slightly curved, and it was shaded and done in color so that it looked real, like a lynx was comfortably nestled atop his back. Its face was turned towards the person viewing it. Nott turned around, taking one hand off of his right arm. A fox was displayed on his forearm, stenciled in black and white. Nine tails wrapped up and around the remainder of his arm.

"Oh wow." Ginny breathed.

"So that lynx is small enough to put on your feet? And the nine tails must wrap around one of your legs…" Deirdre mused.

"Hey. Nott, you forgot one." Blaise said, smiling wickedly.

"So I did." Nott answered, smile washing over his face briefly as though something amused him. He touched his neck below his ear and a symbol appeared. "It's a symbol that means life-force. It's written in Japanese… someone suggested that I check out the language when I was struggling over what to get for my first one."

"Tell them the story!" Blaise said, grinning wide, teeth flashing against his skin. Nott's face darkened.

"Right, like I'm just going to say that. No thanks, let's not do something embarrassing for once." He answered.

"What story?" Deirdre inquired, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, tell us!" Ginny demanded as Nott's tattoos faded once more. "Why are you putting them away?"

"Hey!" Came a loud voice. Macha's. "What're you doing all the way over there! I finally got him out here, the lazy bastard."

"I'll tell you later." Blaise whispered to Ginny, winking again, more conspicuously and wickedly. Ginny answered with a devilish grin of her own, satisfied. The group turned towards Macha and Ginny paused.

"Oh, wow, Macha actually managed it. He's never really enthusiastic about these morning workouts is he?" Deirdre commented dryly. Macha and Draco Malfoy were standing a dozen feet away, still walking towards the rest of them.

Ginny breathed in sharply and continued walking towards the two newcomers, glaring fiercely at the back of Blaise's head. He could've warned her… but then again she didn't want him acting like he knew anything about what she was up to, so maybe it was good that he hadn't.

"Macha." Draco's voice changed. He went abruptly from looking almost cute and young in the early morning light to looking almost dangerous for a second. It nearly shocked her. She had only ever seen him looking hacked off, yet haughty. The new face was one she had never seen. It alarmed her, like a sharp stab from destiny telling her to pick up her game. She hadn't imagined Malfoy could actually be capable of any violence of consequence. "Why is there a Gryffindor here?"

"We've always had Deirdre around." Macha shrugged. He continued to look grumpy, like a rich boy who had been given a tutor he didn't like.

"Boleyn doesn't count. She's not from a solid red and gold family." His look turned distasteful, but she noticed that he didn't just come out and say blood traitor.

"We didn't really have a reason to turn her away. Go ahead, do whatever." Zabini said offhandedly when Malfoy glanced at him, the bad mood continuing. "I suppose I'll miss watching her, but she's not really worth calling in a favor for." Ginny's lips pushed out in a small pout, but she kept her expression amused.

"Honestly, it's just a workout. It's not like I'm trying to manipulate four Slytherins into giving away all of their precious house secrets." She said skeptically, taking on a typical fierce Weasley attitude, but using more sarcasm than was common for a Gryffindor. She stalked away, looking miffed, past Nott, Zabini, Macha, pausing by Malfoy. "I mean, let's just say that I was." She looked at his face, mere inches away, speaking softly. "Do you see any of the important ones here?" She swept an arm out, gesturing to Nott, Zabini, and Macha. "I don't, and I didn't even know you were coming 'till you showed up. Blatant paranoia is unattractive, Malfoy. If you're that worried then just don't talk to me." Frowning, she huffed a bit, talking louder now, "Psh, what could I try here anyway, without a fucking wand?" She finished, eyebrows raised, opponent thoroughly backed into a corner... and noticed that Zabini looked scarily sharp, again, as though his eyes could disect her brain.

"Fine fine, just don't piss me off on purpose. The Gryffindor attitude is annoying, so drop it. I know you're capable." He said, cultured tones clipped. His eyes looked even more wary than before, and a little upset that she was able to voice even part of what he had been thinking.

"Alright then." Macha said, with barely any hesitance, "We're doing one of Weasley's workouts today." The hesitance before Ginny's name was barely noticeable, but all of the regulars recognized Macha's reluctance to use Ginny's first name.

…………….. Ten minutes later

"Fucking hell." Draco groaned, seated on a large boulder at the edge of the lake. "What was that…?" His head was between his knees.

"Ugh, I know. It was worse for us. You went slow cause it was your first time." Deirdre moaned from the ground.

"Boleyn, I have to say I don't really envy you your friendship with the bitch that taught Macha these routines. The girl's practically orgasm-ing in glee." Draco answered dryly after breathing heavily for a few more seconds.

"Hahaha," Ginny chuckled. Malfoy was actually not a dick when he was exhausted. Or maybe she was so cracked out on adrenaline even Malfoy was funny.

"I have a gay friend who can do this workout in five minutes flat. He's a total beast. I wish he were straight, his body is delicious." She grinned and Malfoy looked thoughtful and admiring for a moment, as though he was picturing something.

Zabini's hooded eyes snapped to the blonde Slytherin before flicking towards Ginny. She kept her face tired but cheerful as his glance seemed to try and peel the very skin from her face. The intense seconds passed into an even stranger moment when one corner of his mouth twisted into an amused, but friendly, smirk. Apparently Zabini was well on his way to approving of her. Surely a Slytherin wouldn't trust a Gryffindor on so little information… which of course begged the question, how much did he think he had pieced together? And how could he have even been guessing what direction she was going in with all this.

Her mind gave up and glazed over as she slumped back, watching the clouds bloom into thunderheads above her.

…………………………………………

And so life went on for another week without much change. Ginny found herself working out in a group that included Malfoy three times. The first two mornings he all but ignored her, which seemed to be treatment just a step under how he acted around Deirdre, and a good five hundred feet above where he treated the average Gryffindor, to say nothing of the rest of the Weasleys. The third morning he nodded in greeting to her and seemed to drop his guard slightly. He was also blatantly pissed and working off a lot of anger throughout the course of the morning.

And this she considered carefully. No doubt he could have controlled himself if need be. So he was intentionally dropping his guard, testing the waters… the interesting part was not his display of anger and frustration, which is what he had wanted her to focus on. The golden trio, for example, if they had been there, would have tried to discern the reason behind his anger. The only thing Ginny found intriguing, since his anger was none of her business, was the nod he had given her.

'_Goddamn, I'm confused now. But that nod was SOMETHING. It stood out, he doesn't usually acknowledge me at all, ever. Since it's not a gesture indicating disgust for my presence or a girly scream demanding that I never work out with him again... it must be a good sign.'_

And at this point since, cunning or not, Ginny was indeed a Gryffindor, she was willing to take it at face value. Malfoy was providing her with a hint that he was willing to become something like friends with a blood traitor. Any future Lucius Malfoy would never do that. Even if she dismissed the morning altogether, she still got a solid not-evil vibe from him. She pictured him defending children or running from torture… which meant that her intuition and the intellectual in her mind were in agreement.

Which meant her club was going to be starting soon. She was finished with merely observing Slytherins, now she just needed to find the right time to casually invite them to the opening… and really there was no time like the present.

After considering Malfoy carefully from a distance all day she determined to bring up the subject of a party at her nightclub tomorrow, which was Friday morning.

And in the meantime she could be pleased that the snapping feeling of electricity rising in the air when Malfoy had stalked up pissed that morning seemed similar to the feeling she got off Harry when he got angry or frustrated at Voldemort. Because it seemed that she had been right about another thing considering them both...

……………………………………………….

[And this memory here was provided by Harry Potter, already present in the pensieve for aid in Ginny Weasley's project

_Five__ in the morning_…

Harry Potter had been woken early from a peaceful dream, yet again, by the beginnings of another torture session, in which the Dark Lord's sadistic pleasure was sated. After coming out of the dream, fragmented pieces of what the Dark Lord was experiencing had continued to consume his conscious mind in a terrorizing vision. As the vision began to slow and die out to mere rage-inducing flashbacks, Harry had stumbled, with the silence of experience, out of his House's quarters and into the hallway they opened onto. As his anger and helpless feelings built among constant painful and vivid flashbacks, he moved through his school, trying to occupy his mind with thoughts of something else.

It seemed that mental magic was just not suited for him. Hermione had done some general research on it this summer after visiting Diagon Alley, and it turned out that it was just like any other branch of wizardry, except more difficult because it was wily and finicky. She had wanted to determine if she could learn it and then teach it to Harry in any way other than Snape's.

Unfortunately she found out that some people just weren't adept at it, usually because their magic was not suited to it. It was possible to get around this in some cases using methods such as Snape's, in which a real live legilimency attack forced the student to learn and learn fast, but that tactic had already failed.

Harry had dismissed the hate that had built up towards Snape as a result of the lessons, however, since the man seemed to have analyzed Harry's magic accurately and determined a fit course. He still loathed him of course, but the extra hate had been unnecessary. Snape had, in fact, been acknowledging Harry's past habits of mastering the impossible (such as the Patronus) in a time of desperation and need. But even if Harry could eventually expel someone from his mind, he was incapable of doing it to Voldemort, their connection being a bit too close.

But all it did was leave Harry with the depressing knowledge that he was stuck with the dreams, and the visions. It was sickening. Every time he saw something, he had a new reason to end Voldemort. Deep down, what drove him was his parents' deaths and their sacrifice, but each vision or dream deepened his grudge, resolve, and vengeful need into something as hard as diamond. There was no failing - he WOULD end that bastard's life.

The air around him was thickening, and he felt himself losing control. He'd be coming up on the Library if he didn't take the next staircase, which would lead him eventually to the Room of Requirement, where he could safely discharge his magic. But Harry was too busy reliving what were now his own horrid memories, and forgot to turn onto the stairs, instead continuing along the hallway towards the large wooden doors.

This was not like when his power popped up because he was startled by something or caught unawares by someone. Normally the consequences were minor, like when it had flared earlier in his encounter with Ginny. This time the gathering magic bloomed a little more with each step as every single scream and muffled cry or whimper echoed in his ears. The dull roar in his physical ears as blood pounded through him and adrenaline soared made him realize his body's location and the state his magic was in. The few portraits a long way down the hallway had vanished, one figure scurrying out of the frame as he looked on.

The magic needed a release, like the one the Room of Requirement could give him. He needed to cast some really destructive magic on something dense and durable and he needed to do it soon, before he exploded or melted half a floor, ancient stones and modern reinforcing spells or no.

His anger leapt again, not to be so easily controlled. Another flashback began. A knife drew lines on a stomach, lines out of which endless dark liquid spilled and spilled, incited a scream from the normal teenage boy that had tried to stop Voldemort from entering his mother's home.

"The Dark Lord despises bravery." Harry whispered regretfully, angrily, wishing he could blast the face off the ugly snake-man who just minutes ago had laughed gleefully at the destructive path he had left in his wake, one that wasted five muggle homes. Thankfully, the Lord himself had only visited three.

In the midst of Harry's magical and mental breakdown, something curiously detached from the tense scene occurred. A single massive wooden door opened fractionally just yards away, and a slim boy slid his way out and closed them gently behind him. Carrying a single bag, the figure turned, and gasped- or tried to.

"What the-fuck!" Malfoy took a few steps and leaned heavily against the stone walls. He gulped in air once, then, panicked, two more times in quick succession, almost as though he couldn't get enough air. The blonde looked up at the boy that had startled him and realized the odd noises were actually the very air itself snapping. Potter looked positively murderous, but also deeply mournful. Vengeful. That was the word.

"Potter what the _**fuck**_ are you doing to the air! Other people need that, you know!" Malfoy snapped, almost in a scolding fashion.

Harry frowned and tried to stop his magic, but his control was weak, even worse off because the sounds were still echoing in his head, combined with Voldemort's high, thin laugh. He watched Malfoy clutch his throat, tried again, and was reminded merely of Lucius, who had broken out of prison and was in too many of Harry's dreams.

Malfoy, now growing past desperate, felt his own magic flare up in anger as he saw Harry's eyes go a little cold. He knew the difference between Harry trying and a Gryffindor not giving a shit. "Not going to save me cause I'm a Slytherin?" He spat, still gasping for what was left of the oxygen in the air around him, his own magic yanking at the air in a vain and unconcious effort to gather enough for a few more minutes.

"Lucius Malfoy…" Potter's face had returned to being vengeful, rather than concentrating, and snapped from the cold expression of before to true rage.

"I am _not _my father god_dammit_" Draco snarled hoarsely with the last of his air, all of the oxygen his own magic had tried to snatch from the air around Harry gone as soon as Harry's anger had returned. Instead, Draco's magic gave up at grasping at the oxygen and instead yanked at Harry's power. The Gryffindor was yanked towards the young Malfoy Lord, who assumed that all the oxygen was gathered at the source of this increasingly lethal experience.

Malfoy unbent to meet the Gryffindor as he was pulled towards him, gripping Harry's arms rather than the wall to both keep himself upright as well as halt the Gryffindor hero's momentum. He breathed in deeply for a few seconds, until he was recovered, and then looked up.

"Goddamnit Potter first of all I'm awake fucking all night for a damn Arithmancy project, then I almost die, and then you label me as a murderous lecherous old fool and proceed to sit there and LET ME DIE!!!!" Malfoy's face, normally pointed in a snobby and almost feminine manner, looked hurt, harsh, powerful, and deeply dissapointed. It struck a chord in Harry, looking entirely human and pained, similar to how Harry himself felt sometimes. Harry's skin tingled between his own flesh and the Slytherin's hands, which still grasped him tightly around the wrists.

Malfoy's magic built as his fury increased, pulsing beneath Harry's, invisible to the eye, but strumming deeply through them both. It felt as though gravity was increasing, and everything getting heavier, more imbued with magic, as though Draco's anger was saturating each object in it. Harry's own magic shifted as he felt the need to share these scenes with the prejudiced boy who had, so far this year, remained so uncharacteristically not vindictive towards the Golden Trio. The boy who was looking so struck by injustice, as though he believed Harry would try his damnedest to save even a Slytherin.

Their magic came together, combining into one force and Malfoy's own head was suddenly filled with fuzzy memories, occasionally a clear image that was remembered in vivid detail. The sounds were audible and unmistakable, as was the overall sense of horror pouring into the Slytherin's head. Malfoy lived the torture second-hand, and his magic pulled Harry's own reactions to the torture to the forefront of his mind. Draco was the kind of person who believed knowing other's responses to things was as invaluable as knowing what it was they reacted to. Just seeing the torture was not enough. As he was sent Harry's flashbacks and memories of the torture from Potter's magic, his own made him live it as though he was Harry, wandering the halls of Hogwarts, emotions and magic growing in a need for vengeance.

They broke apart about a minute later, Harry feeling drained, and the air no longer thick. Malfoy's brain was racing to process it all. He had seen nearly as bad this summer, and his resolve to separate himself from it was only strengthened. As was his desire to retain enough power and influence after distancing himself to be in a position to fight the Death Eater movement. His hands shook in anger and from the stress and horror of the visions. His brain burned.

"I wasn't calling you Lucius. I was out of control and I saw him in you, and forgot you were the face in front of me. My mind and magic were overpowering my sight." Malfoy ran a hand through his hair, leaving the pieces flying every which way, much like Potter's. He understood perfectly, especially after what he had just experienced. Harry was leaning against the wall, head back.

"Yes, I know." Draco's magic felt ok, not fully drained. It was in his nature to have things gravitate towards him, natural for his magic to absorb things. And Potter's magic had been pushing, pushing, desperate for somewhere to go, to share the images, the horror. Still he'd absorbed a lot. "What a mindfuck." He trailed his fingers over his face, calling all his attention and magic back to himself, wanting not a trace anywhere near Potter, although for entirely different reasons than normal, not a one to do with Gryffindor.

"Yeah, that one was pretty bad. Not the worst, but that was the third in a row I saw, and I just-" Harry stopped talking, tired of remembering. "Didn't mean to show it to you. Sorry about that. -t's never happened before. I didn't even know it could, really."

Draco frowned, "It shouldn't have. That- it tells- the magic was just… nevermind." It meant their magic was compatible. Or at least, that's what it had felt like. That their strength was equal, in its own way. Or more like yin and yang, that they balanced each other out, worked in tandem in a way which benefitted the users, in this case Harry and Draco.

"I didn't know your magic was so strong that it reacts to your emotions. Is it accidental magic, or can you make it do what you want?" Potter asked, eyes closed. He looked beyond tired, exhausted, but it left the bare essentials to his personality open on his face; strength and trustworthiness.

"Magic isn't supposed to react like that. It only happens to strong wizards and witches. Whether it acts unintentionally or how difficult it is to control depends on the type of personality and magic you have." Draco felt calm, and talking felt good, normal, a healthy way to ignore what he had seen and experienced. It felt private, open, but not revealing or soul-baring. The quiet after the shared storm. He didn't want to say anything to antagonize the Gryffindor, not after having just lived the pain the hero-boy had felt all night.

Harry Potter's head was tipped back appealingly, his neck left bare, tan and attractive, but taught from the stress of the ordeal. His shoulders were relaxed in the aftermath, and his body was supported completely by the wall, legs tilted out and braced against the floor. As Draco examined him, Potter slumped a little farther, and then slid the rest of the way down the wall, the hour of the morning getting to him, the killing move.

He crouched in a squat, ruffled his hair in his hands, tousling it. His head tilted up to Draco. The Slytherin didn't expect his eyes to be so bright, and was suddenly disturbingly aware of how slowly he was breathing in and how riveted his own gaze was to Potter's. The green struck at something inside him for just a second. Then, Harry bounced once and his legs pushed him back up.

He looked more relaxed with his hair mussed like that, as though he was just waking up, more carefree, a little wilder. Rather than offending Draco's sense of fashion, it appealed to him, because it suited him. Realization came along with the thought, however, as Draco's mind began to feel the strain of the morning and his entire life in general. His body was buzzing with the absorbed energy ready for a fierce workout, sex or a Quidditch game or something, while his body and magic were feeling thoroughly abused and exhausted.

Harry tipped on his feet slightly, but regained his balance, shaking his head woozily. "Got up a bit too fast… It's nice to feel like I'm not weighed down by my magic. It doesn't feel like it'll up and burst out at any second."

"Glad to be of service, Potter. Too bad you had to scar me emotionally…" Malfoy said, good-naturedly. Or at least he took it as good-natured, even though he said it snidely. The tone was coming back to him as his sense of his place in the world returned.

"Something tells me you can handle it." Harry spoke plainly, looking Draco straight in the eyes. The blonde's eyes met his gaze evenly. He wasn't going to deny it. But Harry remembered the sadness and lingering sense of injustice and hurt pride that was left over from their magical and mental collision.

The boys looked at each other for a second. Then Harry, feeling whatever calm mood they'd established around them shifting and cracking, broke the silence. "We shouldn't be out. I mean Filch is probably sleeping anyway, at this hour, but…"

"Don't presume to tell me how to act, Potter. If you're such a stickler for the rules, why don't you just go and take points off yourself. I have a fine reason for being here, Pince allowed me use of the Library for as long as I needed it tonight." His colder face had returned, all signs of the normal, or at least the open person with no worries about letting something slip, had vanished. Draco Malfoy whirled and stalked off, slinging his bag over one shoulder.

Harry found his eyes examining the boy as he left, lingering a little on his hips, which moved back and forth thanks to Malfoy's aggressive walk. Harry felt a tingle run down his spine briefly, and shook his head again. "Well, he does look good. There's no arguing that. Really, truly, no denying it. He's damn attractive when he's acting like a normal human." He shook his head, beginning to walk off himself, and dismissing the numerous times he had just repeated the fact that Draco was hot out loud to the fact that he was exhausted and drained.

For some reason, Harry found everything about the Draco Malfoy he had just experienced very appealing. Everything about the experience had turned out positive, from the moment their magic touched. It had even removed the taint of the night terror from his morning. Maybe the day would be a good one afterall…

… Malfoy, as he got closer and closer to the dungeons, grew progressively more and more pissed. Echoes of the torture were faint, but sufficient to frustrate him to no end at how helpless he was and how slow the changes he was trying to make within Slytherin House were. He had to go slow, and be thorough, or he and his few allies would chicken out of what they were going to do. They all had the money and means to disappear into other countries. It was about doing what was right, and convincing others as well, not to mention trying to create a winning side around Harry Potter, whom they'd have to support.

Which meant that, yes, he was going to need Ginny Weasley. Thus leading up to the fateful nod.

End

A/N: so basically Draco was pissed cause he felt helpless and he'd been up all night and in general he's feeling frustrated cause it's hard to realize the kid he'd been insulting for years is actually someone he'd genuinely like to get to know.

Please review! Tell me what I need to fix! (by the way I edited chapters one and two so it makes more sense and the beginning focuses a little more on the characters that pull harry and draco together).

I'm counting on having shitloads more Harry/Draco coming! It's hard cause I really want it to be realistic so I don't wanna rush… but I want them to be drawn together.


	8. Openings

**.Friday Morning.**

Ginny took a deep breath to calm her nerves. This would have been so much easier to propose if Draco Malfoy weren't here… but he was. She needed him, too. She was going to have to say something soon, because everyone was almost done catching their breath and relaxing, post-workout.

Blaise was wide awake, and hadn't looked sleepy since Malfoy had acknowledged her and Deirdre both this morning with a meager, "Boleyn. Weasley." Macha arched in a bridge off to Ginny's left, watching the sky with Nott and Deirdre. Draco was the only one still catching his breath, which could only be a good thing, really.

"So, I don't know what Slytherin does on Friday nights this year, but I'm throwing a party, if you lot are interested." She said, sitting cross-legged and gazing over them. Thom being the exception, frowns hit every face, almost in unison. "It's not a Gryffindor party," She continued, breezing right over their anger and sending them into a state of defensive confusion.

"Oh is it finally ready to open?" Deirdre exclaimed, sitting up in palpable excitement which nearly broke the tension. Blaise raised his eyebrows slightly, gloom showing up as a pout on his lips.

"Yeah, it's stocked and everything." Ginny answered, grinning, and then turned to Malfoy, who was on the cusp of ignoring her again, "I'm opening a club. Underneath the school in empty corridors I, er, found. This isn't going to be some crappy little House-party, we're talking full-blown nightclub. Haven't found a DJ yet, but we've got a tap into the wizard wireless. Fully stocked bar, the works." She finished and sat back, expectant.

There was a long pause as their eyes swung to Draco. Blaise was now looking curious and amused. Macha was shifting restlessly in longing, and Thom was still, almost entirely apathetic.

"Weasley," Malfoy began, his eyes on her, and she could tell that he honestly hadn't expected a nightclub. He might have suspected either her long-term goals or some simple 'let's be bffsies' cliché act coming on, and Blaise certainly expected the former, but this had them both surprised. She felt an unholy amount of satisfaction. "If this is part of some crap about joining forces with other Houses-"

"Fuck no. This is about realizing there are so many people sick of lame butterbeer parties and only dating people in their own house that I could make loads of galleons before I even leave school." She answered dismissively, eyes gleaming.

"Damn, girl," Macha smiled coldly, "Ambition like that is wasted outside our House."

"What I lack in sneaky I just couldn't make up for with my wild and obscene notions of how to achieve grandeur." Ginny shrugged with satisfied expression. As she was looking at Macha, Draco and Blaise held a swift and silent conversation of glances, ending before the redhead turned back to them.

"I'm going." Blaise announced, shooting a steamy gaze at Ginny, who almost gaped at the abrupt change in his mood. "Just tell me when and where."

Draco simply nodded, and Ginny knew she had all of them, and anyone else they chose to bring. Instead of squealing in glee she answered Blaise.

"Head to the corridor that was forbidden your first year, and there'll be a picture of a knight named Cadogan. He's off his rocker, talks endlessly, easy to spot. Recite a line of Shakespeare's MacBeth and someone will be there to show you in." She sucked in a deep breath, jittery. "No cover charge tonight, you'll only have to pay for drinks. Entrance closes at ten, opens at nine-thirty. Anyone else you'd be thinking of bringing?"

"I can think of one or two people," Thom answered, looking at Blaise instead of Ginny.

"I'll trust your judgment, then, but only two more. Tonight will be a test-run, so it's essentially only the people I and my partners have invited personally. It'll be mostly Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, excluding you lot." Ginny pulled her hair from its ponytail and snapped the hair tie on her wrist a few times as Thom nodded calmly in assent.

Hands brushed nervously at her legs as she nodded back, in finality, and then shot up. "Right. Let's head to breakfast, D." She looked over her shoulder as they walked away, and saw the Slytherins were making no motion to leave. She turned to Deirdre and muttered under her breath, "I should be frightened, but I can't help feeling utterly confident that they'll be there. I just hope they don't bring Pansy . Ugh."

Deirdre clamped her lips over a nervous giggle, bobbing her head in agreement, as the memory faded out.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Ginny barely got through her classes that day. She devoted herself with fierce energy to performing perfectly in each class, to distract herself from counting down each second with a tempus spell.

Her last class had finished, and between Luna, Deirdre, and a few other friends like Susie and June she had everyone she liked and a few wealthier ones that she didn't attending. About forty students, rounding up under the assumption that Draco may bring one or two extra people.

She was in the dungeons, searching for Luna, who had intended to ask Snape about an essay due Monday. Having failed to find her, Ginny slipped behind a statue, opening another school shortcut. Someone came up fast behind her, dragging her forward with them into the secret passage. Reacting instinctively, Ginny immediately turned the tables, wand at their stomach and hand wrapped around their throat as the doorway shut and threw the hallway into darkness.

"Lumos," sounded in familiar low tones, filling the thin space. A wand, angled towards Ginny's throat, lit up. Blaise continued raggedly, "Let go of my throat, Gin." She relaxed, dropping both her arms, seeing it was just him. He snatched both her wrists, pinning her to the wall in an unbelievably swift movement. She gasped, not entirely in pain. His lumos was above them now, the wand still in his hand. Nevertheless, she couldn't get out of his grip. "Stupid. Never let your guard down. You're in the dungeons, you can't start thinking every hot guy you see isn't going to attack you."

She shivered as the seriousness in his eyes turned in a different direction. He leaned in, grip still tight enough to hurt, and caressed her neck with his lips, up to her ear. His teethed teased her earlobe before he husked, "So will you be too busy tonight to dance?"

Taking advantage of the rapidly growing rush of sexual energy that was pooling in her belly, she tapped the small fire that was her magic. It flared and smashed him into the opposite wall. Blaise hit the stones with force, but no crack of his head whipping against the wall, or anything but a fierce "WHUMP" echoed. Her wand tip swung to the hollow of his throat and the rippling aftershocks that she couldn't control swung around the passageway, sparking against several crystals embedded in the walls. Tweaking the extra energy, the stones lit up as Blaise's 'Lumos' was extinguished, the same as they would have if she'd voiced the activation spell. Ginny smirked at Blaise's impressed and shocked expression.

"Game over?" She inquired innocently, biting her lip as her magic fluctuated in waves inside her. He sighed.

"I yield. Although you'll notice my own magic cushioned my hit against the wall. I believe that's the first time it's flared up on its own." He commented, pulling away from the wall as her wand lowered, much more slowly this time.

Ginny listened with half an ear, not really hearing him. Her magic was getting all upset now, surging in waves, roiling just under her skin, roaring in her ears. Tapping it like that never worked. She had so much that it was like slamming a thin foil door against a flood. It wasn't so strong that, like Harry's, it popped when she so much as slightly desired something. But if she manipulated strong surges of emotion the result may well be just as devastating as when Harry's magic magnified a storm to almost tropical proportions. Wandless magic wasn't just something most people weren't strong enough for, it was also unstable in almost every circumstance.

"Ginny." Blaise said, sharply, watching as her body twisted uncomfortably under the inner pressure. Surprise laced his features as he realized just how strong she was. The magic was escaping now, in tendrils that made the air crackle around them. He reached out and touched her arm, and the tendrils turned to vines, encasing him. He panicked for a second, and adrenaline surged again for the second time in two minutes.

His magic slid through hers, unraveling the violent intent. The effect it had could only be described as a seduction of Ginny's magic. The corridor became saturated with a sexual haze, and Ginny went weak at the knees as her magic swooned. Blaise grasped her and dragged her into him, keeping the redhead as upright as possible.

He smiled smugly as she came around, breathless. Her hips were tucked to his, but her upper body was only kept upright by his arms, and her head was tipped back. She pulled herself up, slowly and languorously, leaning into him.

"Wow. So did your sex appeal just conquer enough violent energy to level a small house?" She asked, trying to make up for the fact that she was helplessly limp against him by sounding completely normal. The ploy failed when he chuckled, and she buried her head in his neck, trying to resist the urge to bite him.

"I do warn people about it, you know. I appealed to Dumbledore for warning signs, 'Dangerously Stimulating Sex God in Residence', but he refused to put up warning signs around the school. Maybe it was the naked mug shot I had on each sign." He murmured softly, dangerously, as his hands gently rearranged her so her lips were beneath his. One arm tightened around her waist, "Just in case I overwhelm you again." He smiled before taking over her lips, his free forearm propped against the wall behind her.

Blaise leaned over her, becoming her entire universe for a few amazing seconds. As he kissed her, the magical energy drained from the air around them, as though he was drawing the desire for sex back into his skin. He pulled away, and she protested by dragging her teeth over his lip as he separated. Her eyes opened in time to see a brief and vicious struggle in his face. He almost leaned back in, but withdrew instead.

"So, I'll see you tonight. Tell me Pansy isn't coming." Ginny commented, tucking her wand away.

"Thomas wouldn't show if she were going." Blaise answered, amused, as he turned back towards the doorway out. Ginny nodded, satisfied.

"Portia." She called out, wand pointed past him. The stone blocking his way vanished, and he lifted a hand in thanks and farewell before the wall close in again. She sucked in air and flopped against the wall, fingers on her lips. "Damn. Oh my GOD, damn. What would sex with THAT be like?"

She shook her head, blushing like mad, and ran off up the passage, trying to get rid of the tingling energy in her abdomen. 

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Ginny's ran into Harry on her way off to the club to set up. It was nearly seven-thirty, and she was running exactly on schedule. She nearly passed him without saying a thing, but he looked different than the last time they'd talked.

"Hey. What's up with you, you look great!" She exclaimed. He looked almost well-rested.

"Oh. Nothing much, I guess. I just – er – Hey, Ginny let's talk?" He fumbled the words out. She paused, scanning her mental list for tonight.

"Look, Harry, I'm in a rush, but you're welcome to come with me. Actually, I'm opening a nightclub tonight underneath Hogwarts." She grinned, dropping the bomb on him, "And I want you to come. Drinks are on the house for you tonight, since you bought me more than a few this summer. Wanna come watch me set up? It's just me for now, so we'll have privacy."

His mouth dropped open and he cracked up for a few minutes before she convinced him to laugh and walk at the same time.

"You're not kidding." He said, sobering up once they neared what was once the forbidden corridor. He continued on in silence, until she kissed the trapdoor and it swung open. "Oh, Ginny you DIDN'T."

"Oh yes I did. A girl needs a good party and influx of cash from time to time." She grinned and gestured for him to jump. "Nothing is going to be set up here, in case a teacher finds a way past Cadogan."

By the time Ginny herself landed, Harry was examining the room in awe. She took her time rising, and then grabbed one of his arms and pulled him into the hall where he'd once flown to catch a key. He gave a long, low whistle.

"Harry? I need to set some things up behind the bar." She turned away from him and towards the bar as he nodded his head amazedly.

"Yeah? Yeah, er… sorry, it feels really odd to be here. I haven't thought about that day in a long time, you know? So many other things have happened. This is good though. I mean, I should remember more often." He was pacing, squinting to see the room the way it had been. "Voldemort was desperate back then. And even in a situation that bad… overconfidence. I bet he's a million times worse right now."

Ginny paid little attention to his murmurs. That kind of thing, it was for Harry alone. She got to work with refrigeration and freezing spells, prepping to chill some elvinyard wine bottles. Making sure she had butterbeer on tap, as well as a few muggle beers, she finally turned to a frosty cauldron that held her specialty. It had been Fred and George's Special House Party Punch, before she improved it. It fizzed from the strawberry champagne, had a touch of raspberry schnapps and some Pixie Tears (a clear liquid that was somewhere between the muggle everclear and absinthe). It kept itself cool enough to frost any glass it was poured into, and held the temperature as you drank it. The blend of the chill going down and the heat that spiked through the drinker was stimulating at the least. The final ingredient was lemonade. It also made the breath sparkle, like every exhalation was saturated with ice crystals. She had a few extra charms and a drop or two of a potion which aids the liver. So while it was potent, it wore off quicker. It was perfect for serving to students who needed to be sober enough to find their Houses, but wanted to get hit hard in the beginning.

"Oh, wow. What is THAT?" Harry asked. She explained the beverage to him as she made final adjustments, adding in the drops of potion.

"It's not quite ready yet, or I'd let you try it. Why don't I show you the club itself, and then you can talk to me while I rush around?" She suggested. "I'd prefer to wow you first thing."

She showed him the door, and activated all the affects in the order she had for Luna last week. Harry, after the usual "Oh man"s and "Bloody fantastic"s walked about the dance floor, arms spread under the words rippling down on him.

"It's like the ceiling is raining." He commented.

"Yeh." Ginny nodded, satisfied and feeling as though the work was already worth it. "Raining love."

"And sex." He laughed, as a provocative word slid across his arm. Ginny grinned and deactivated the lighting spells.

"That, too. I'm actually worried I don't have enough of a sex vibe." She commented, trailing a hand over the wall as she walked toward the smaller bar counter in this room. '_Wonder if I could pay Zabini to work his magic full-time? Or would that result in too many unplanned pregnancies?'_

"You could make a rule or something. Like no shirts for the guys. Or a theme, like… I dunno. You're the one with all the ideas. Seriously, Ginny, you're like a daredevil version of Hermione. Is it safe to have you wandering around school free like this?" He inquired with a laugh, and Ginny mock-bowed to hide her brief blush.

"So, I believe we had something to discuss?" She said, beginning to putter around the counter. Harry's hands ruffled his hair back and forth fiercely as he opened and closed his mouth a few times. Finally, his shoulders slumped and he began to talk, face red under the remainder of his summer tan.

"I er – it was Thursday morning? Because of Voldemort stuff, and then I was trying to find the Room of Requirement to blow it all off, I was walking around, did I tell you that? Waking visions, and I was looking for a safe room, but I ended up at the library and now I call him Draco. And I saw his ass. Move." He stammered that much out and then stopped. Ginny waited for some sort of clarification. Harry was silent, and his green eyes were gazing at her as though she was going to clarify things for HIM. Her brows snapped together.

"Potter, I can't fucking understand any of that." She scolded, managing to sound like Snape and her mother in a single sentence. "I get the waking vision thing, you were walking, and I'm guessing you took a wrong turn on your way to the Room of Requirement? Let's take it from there, shall we?"

"Good, yeah, good." Harry leaned up against the bar as she worked, listening intently now, "Draco came out of the library and stopped breathing. I mean, I was sucking the oxygen out of the air or something, I guess. That's what he said. He was yelling, and then I guess he was struggling for air... I called him Lucius, I was still confusing reality with my head then, and he threw – a magical hissyfit?" Harry snorted here, and Ginny did her best to hide her surprise at the affection in the gesture. "Yeah, definitely what you should call it. So, then I remember being pulled towards him. No. More like his magic was attracting mine. Like muggle magnets. You know what those are?"

"Oh, yeah. The two opposite pieces swing together, right? Like magic, but muggles call it science, and they don't need to be charmed." Ginny answered, brain whirring away as she answered absentmindedly.

"Yeah, exactly. That was it. Instead of his magic lashing out and one of us going flying or something, like you did in that alley in London, we snapped together. It was cool. Oh, but then I shared all the visions with him." She stopped working.

"Harry! Why? It's a terrible thing to put someone through!" She whispered, imagining being put through an ordeal like that again.

"I didn't mean to! It just happened. Like we were connected, and his magic must be like gravity or something, because it all just went to him, my own feelings about it, every single thing. But my magic was part of it to, because after that I felt great. The tension, the magic flood was gone. And I didn't pop until this afternoon. Anyway, the thing I wanted to talk to you about wasn't really that." He trailed off for a few seconds and Ginny gave up all pretense of trying to work while they talked.

'_Good god, there's more?! Oh, of course, I doubt he knows what compatibility like that might mean… I can't believe I might be right about this. I wish there'd been a way to lay bets. Of course it still might not happen for years, dammit, considering how difficult it was for Harry just liking Cho Chang. Or if Malfoy's really in the market to be on a new side during the war and his father kills him, it won't happen ever. Fuck, fuck fuckfuckfuck it would all be so perfect. And his task would still be so impossible even if my entire plan DOES work!' _The inner monologue ended as Harry continued.

"We had a talk, like normal people, almost. He was right snarky, of course, and shaken from the whole damn thing. I still feel guilty as hell… but he wasn't mean, Ginny. He was trying to tell me why the magic thing happened, and what it was. But I think he did that to reassure me, so I knew that he didn't think it was intentional. I mean, he was seriously upset when I called him Lucius, and when I almost stood right there and watched him die… He was – well, disappointed in me, and really hacked off. And finally, when he started talking haughty again, it was like a little translator spell turned on in my head. He didn't sound haughty and annoying, just really – damn I don't know, extravagant. Like a person who likes to make a splash. Er, but then he started marching away and he looked very – er –" Harry's voice dropped to an embarrassed growling whisper, "Saucy, and I might have mentioned out loud how se- appealing. How appealing he was. Several times in a row, er, out loud, you know. To myself. He didn't hear, or anything." Ginny sat through all of this, getting more and more giddy inside, and finally burst out in giggles. Shrieking, hiccupping, and hysterical giggles. Harry stared, but the sounds coming from her were so ridiculous he couldn't even take offense. When the commotion finally began to die, he was chuckling nervously.

"OH, Harry Potter. What would I do for entertainment without you? It is so like your life to have that happen." He gave her a confused look and she continued, "I mean who else would have two great relaxing days just because of a grumpy run-in with a childhood adversary? Really, I can't think of anyone else who'd have the unfortunate luck to meet Malfoy in a corridor that early after he'd pulled an all-nighter while they have a live tap into the evil bad-man club going in their skull. It's just so YOU." She sighed affectionately, and then rested her head on her hands, elbows up on the bar. "Go on, then."

"Go on where?"

"The rest of it. Malfoy's pretty hot stuff, this year especially. He's a smokin' dresser, it almost puts him up there with Zabini, in my opinion. He's totally a type, though, and I'm not one for slim blonds. They're all too much like Luna when I see them out of the corner of my eye." She said, skating right over any of his misgivings.

"Oh. Er- Yeah, he definitely qualifies. He's got the hair, when it's not all plastered down to his skull, and his eyes are different. Like steel, really uncomfortable to look into, and his face is – what's that word I saw in Aunt Petunia's magazine? Androgynous. That's it, he's androgynous, and really dramatic." Harry commented, speaking more easily than before.

"Without being girly, exactly. It's a wicked skill. If he were anyone but a Malfoy I'd say he was channeling a young music producer. Dean was really into music, and back when we were together the summer before this one we spent a few weekends seeing different bands record. I met his cousin, who's this guy who works in a studio, and he let us hang out there whenever. Malfoy makes me think of those guys. They have their own style, they're always in control of a band or a studio or something, and the ones who are ex-musicians are really hot." She stretched, remembering the muggles fondly, and then tapped a hang decisively on the counter. "Right, well I've got to keep on puttering around this place. You can keep hanging out, I don't mind the company, or the conversation. Unless you felt like changing."

Harry looked down. He was wearing a green vintage shirt that read 'Revolucion' with a simple coat of arms under it which Fred and George had helped him pick out. His eyes were almost supernatural over it, and his jeans were fairly standard. "I think I'm just about ok for a club, actually." He said, sounding more than a little surprised.

"You'll do. Luna will make a few alterations when she gets here, I'm sure." A look of alarm raced over Harry's face, but disappeared when Ginny continued, "She dresses herself oddly, but she's great at other people. You'll see."

The remaining time ticked away, Dobby and Winky popping around the chambers arranging things, Ginny and Harry occasionally entertaining the subject of Draco Malfoy, or Slytherins in general. Finally, Luna arrived, carrying with her an outfit for Ginny, who left to change in the storage closet. She returned quickly, in time to see that Luna had finished gaining Harry's trust.

"So, what kind of a person would you like to be tonight?" She whispered to herself, or maybe to Harry, and her eyes glided over him gently. Harry looked unsure of whether to answer. "Don't worry, the nungnoblins are answering me. Something like this, then? Not too muggle." Her wand flickered here and there as she drifted around him in a single wide circle.

Harry yelped a little as his jeans tightened around his ass, and fitted themselves better in a few areas. The color of the wash on the denim changed to something darker, closer to a black, and the material softened as she altered it to a stretchy sort of jean. Ginny noticed that his shoes were growing images, and fading in the way color sometimes faded from clothing, so they looked vintage. Grey, black, and red washed-out vines were all over them after a few more seconds. The shirt was left the way it was, and Ginny thought for a second that was it.

"Oh, the magic eyeliner was a sexy little touch." Ginny announced. Wizarding eyeliner applied lightly, the way Luna had, had an effect more like a shadowy edge around the eye. It didn't look quite like make-up, unless you were scrutinizing Harry, but it gave his eyes a rakish look.

"Thank you, Ginny." Luna twirled her wand in her hands, pleased, "And the hair won't lie flat. He doesn't need to run a hand through it to keep it mussed like that."

"Eyeliner," was apparently the only word Harry had heard, "You can't be seriou-" He stopped short when Ginny's _Accio_'d mirror whizzed in front of him. "Woah. Right, nevermind. Brilliant work, Luna. I'm almost jealous of the bloke I'm looking at, here."

Luna smiled, then frowned slightly, and approached again. She tapped him on the back once, just under the thin collar of the t-shirt, and snake fangs appeared. "Just to remind some of our guests." She let out airily, turning to walk away.

"Huh? What-" Harry was twisted around, trying to see what she'd done, when Luna's wand dropped to tap against her shoulder. Back to the Boy Who Lived, as she was still walking away, a silver spark streaked from the end of her idly tapping wand to hit him square in his right butt cheek. "Argh!"

"Just a last minute adjustment," Luna sung out as she left for the storage area in the back. A silver logo appeared on the back pocket of the jeans, a crescent moon with a small figure sitting on the end of it, legs dangling off. Above the figure's head and scrawled across the crescent was one word in royal blue: MAB.

"Now that's a brilliant look. She's decked you out in Slytherin colors, and you _still_ look like a sexy Gryffindor, somehow. Rakish, but not sly or sneaky in the least… must be that honest jaw-line of yours." She winked and sauntered back to her bar. The comment distracted Harry from his mild outrage over his still-tingly buttock as he tried to give Ginny's comment some thought, failed, and threw himself into a chair instead.

Winky popped into the room, looking for Ginny or Luna to open the trapdoor, since Dennis Creevey had just arrived. Ginny got busy showing the boy what to do, informing him that he'd be working the second half of the evening at the bar in 'Pre'. She'd had a stroke of brilliance and decided to assign Dobby to the mini bar in Asi Te Veo. It was so high that no student would see him. The students would drop the cash in a basket Dobby levitated, and then the house elf would levitate the drinks back up to them. The only thing available tonight in Asi Te Veo would be bottles of Betterbeer, a more alcoholic version of Butterbeer, the normal Butterbeer, and bottles of water.

Luna had just returned from letting Deirdre in when Ginny's flurry of motion stopped dead in its tracks.

"Right. Well, that's everything ready, then. Isn't it?" She turned to Luna, who cocked her head to the side playfully, a visual echo of Ginny's question. Deirdre stared at her.

"You're an attractive girl, but you might want some make-up and more than a bun to go with those clothes." Deirdre said dryly. Luna's face mirrored Ginny's, and both girls were 'Oh RIIIGHHT' expression, and the blond giggled softly before whipping out her wand and flicking it here and there from halfway across the room.

Ginny's eye shadow was an artful explosion of green and gold, the lips were done to be plump and enhance the natural color, and her cheekbones looked higher than ever before. The lashes were dusted in green, too. She was wearing a loose and long cream silk tank top over tight jeans and her hair was teased so that it was curly and wild.

"Right, then. Anything else I've forgotten?" She looked around at everyone expectantly, but everything was set. Harry shifted a little, and her eyes flew to him.

"Well, should I just stay until people show up? Or go get… Ro- er… Her- er, actually I think, yeah, staying here is a good plan. Gin, you mind if I get started on that drink?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, no problem. Dennis, Harry's drinks are free this evening. I'm gonna head up and hang in Cadogan's room, till someone shows up. As soon as the morning group shows I'm handing that off to you, Luna." Ginny flicked her hand in a wave at Harry, who was chatting with Dennis about drinks already, and headed back towards the entrance. A simple spell turned the soft landing into a trampoline that propelled her up and out.


End file.
